Jagged Lines
by SoulOfAFangirl684
Summary: Despite what her classmates might say, Ino Yamanaka was not the stereotypical clichéd popular girl. Not anymore anyway. These days, she's a little lost, trying to find her place in this world and- more importantly- herself. Just like everyone else, as it turns out. High school AU.
1. Starting Over

**I really considered waiting to post this one until I had it all written out… But the motivation behind that would be so it wouldn't take away any time that would have been spent on my other unfinished stories… But unfortunately, I've had to realize that logic is flawed. This idea hit me out of nowhere, and I began writing as soon as it started to solidify. (So it's already been taking time away from my other stories.) A lot of ideas hit me like that, but I tend to try to file them away. As a result, so few story ideas actually get brought to life, and as much as I want that satisfaction of completing the ideas I've already put out there, that loss also saddens me in a way. So here we are.**

**This one was brought about by a few things. For a while now, I've been looking for an excuse to explore Ino's character in a different way than I (and I think a lot of people) typically headcanon her. And this was inspired, at least a little, by **_**A Silent Voice**_**. (Which is a beautiful movie in general,) but it was the depiction of bullying, in particular, that really stuck with me. The characters felt like relatable people, even when they were at their worst. And the main character going from being the bully to the victim—and how that changed his view of the world—was really striking to me. And it was something along those lines that I wanted to recreate and explore for myself. So, without further ado…**

**Part One: The Longest First Day**

**Chapter One: Starting Over**

Her hands were sweating. Perhaps it was some sort of defense mechanism—her mind not allowing her to take in everything at once—but this was the detail she zoned in on. She gripped the strap of her bookbag a little tighter, only making that awareness even more keen.

Even just two years ago, the idea that Ino could be this unnerved just by joining a crowd of her peers would have been ludicrous. In the future she'd once envisioned for herself, this crowd would have parted of its own accord. Everyone else would have been hyperaware of _her_. Her friends would have already designated _her_ locker as the early-morning meeting spot, their chatter and laughter there to greet her. She'd always have someone to sit with at lunch, to walk with between classes. Her place in the world would be loud and clear to all who so much as glanced her way.

But she hadn't grown up to be that girl. And _this_ Ino was suddenly feeling very lost and more than a little overwhelmed. Self-consciously, her hand jumped from the strap of her backpack to the end of her ponytail, just inches away. Her hair still had not grown back to a length she was comfortable with. This was hardly a reassuring thought, and she yanked her hand away.

Ino kept moving. She'd come in to tour her new high school over the summer and was confident in where she was going, at least. And truthfully, the crowd really wasn't jostling her that badly. She seemed to be blending in better than she'd hoped.

No sooner had this thought crossed her mind than it happened. Her gaze swept over the row of lockers to her right—once she turned the corner, her own would be in view—accidentally sweeping through someone else's line of sight in the process. Their eyes caught, and her heart leapt into her throat.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment before both girls quickly rescinded this connection, snapping their gazes away. But not quickly enough. Ino had seen Yuna's jaw drop. And, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Koharu join the other girl at her locker. She couldn't help glancing back as she turned the corner… just in time to see them hunch forward with their heads bent, blocking out the rest of the world as they began whispering a mile a minute. And there was no questioning who her old friends were gossiping so furiously about.

The sinking feeling in her core was almost her undoing. It was all too familiar by now, and hadn't the purpose of this fresh start been to put all that ugliness behind her? It was only day one. Not too late to return home and admit defeat, tell her mother she'd been wrong, transfer to a school where no one knew her after all. Her pride would recover.

"Hey, Ino! Over here!"

Her eyes shot up from where they'd sought the floor. Immediately, a weight lifted from her. It was not quite the welcome she'd once imagined for herself, but it was warm and friendly and exactly what she needed just then.

Her eyes found Choji easily. He was also the type who could part a crowd, though this was due to the way he was nearly twice the width of most of their other classmates. His personality was actually quite unassuming. Really, the only fierce thing about him was his loyalty to his friends. But that was the quality that mattered, and it put a renewed skip in her step. It came out as more of a stumble, really, as she hurried his way.

Once she was almost upon him, she was able to see another boy slouched against the row of lockers beside him. He looked distinctly unimpressed by all the hubbub around them, and Ino felt another surge of affection at the sight of him. Here was the extent of her circle of friends these days, and this wasn't the depressing realization it had once been.

"How can you look this exhausted already?" she asked Shikamaru as he moved aside so she could get to her locker. "Class hasn't even started."

"If it were up to Shikamaru, he would've skipped today altogether!" Choji chimed in good-naturedly. He already had one hand lost in a pack of chips, she noted.

"It's only the first day!" Ino rifled through her bag for the slip of paper that had come in the mail with her class schedule, the one containing her locker combination. It was still at the top, and she set to work on the lock, trying to ignore the malicious little voice in the back of her mind. _Hypocrite. Five minutes ago, you were ready to quit too._

She'd grown familiar with the boys' little habits and personality quirks over the summer. She didn't have to turn around to know Shikamaru was rolling his eyes at their chiding. "Exactly. Nothing important ever happens on the first day. Each class will probably just go over the syllabus, expectations for the year. Show up to class, do you homework… all the stuff anyone with half a brain could have figured out themselves. But good luck telling my mom that…"

Ino had to laugh a little at the thought. She doubted he'd even tried. Yoshino Nara was a force all her own. Her lock clicked into place with a heavy, metallic clunk, the door swinging open.

"Wow," Choji commented. "First try."

She glanced around and saw, all up and down the freshman hallway, her classmates struggling with their own lockers. Of course. The Konoha school system had a combined elementary and middle school. There weren't real locks on the lower school's 'lockers.' All textbooks were kept in the classrooms. She could remember the abundance of homework worksheets from her own younger years, the crazy lengths the school had gone to in order to avoid spending the money on new equipment. (An expense that surely must have been outdone by the cost of the worksheets year after year—something even the youngest students had come to mock.)

"Oh, yeah… My middle school lockers were just like these."

28-32-14. She remembered her first day there. She'd spent that entire homeroom period struggling to get her locker open. Only for her homeroom teacher to later call down to the office and find that they'd had the wrong combination on file. 28-32-16 had been the combination to really get her locker to open: First try then, too. Not that any of her giggling new classmates had been around to see _that_ part of the story.

"Oh…" Choji said awkwardly. Shikamaru eyed her for a moment but didn't comment. And she couldn't really blame them for their awkwardness, she willingly broached the topic of her middle school days so rarely.

"Well," she said with a forced brightness. "Where are your lockers, then? Maybe I can give you some pointers."

As it turned out, the lockers had been assigned alphabetically, effectively separating the three of them. But they shared a homeroom, at least, and she couldn't have been more relieved. Boxed into this smaller room, Ino spotted more and more familiar faces, and they all seemed to be turned her way. It was comforting to have Choji and Shikamaru on either side of her.

Their homeroom teacher was laid-back to the extreme. The type of professor who would have insisted everyone just call him by his first name, if he taught college. This wasn't even much of a speculation, really. Mr. Sarutobi's new students watched, a little bewildered, as older students filtered in and out before the first bell, the casual "Hey, Asuma"s floating off their tongues as they did. His reprimands only got more half-hearted over time.

Asuma Sarutobi didn't teach any freshman classes. He had a few of the mandatory sophomore histories but mostly got to teach the junior and senior electives. Specialized courses in things like the reign of the samurai and entire semesters devoted to the impact of a single battle in a war. 'Fun' classes for the few who truly loved the subject.

Bewildered at first, the sight quickly set his new students at ease. Ino saw a few glancing at each other with something akin to giddiness. A silent sense of victory passed amongst them. They'd gotten the cool teacher.

Except… Ino found herself eyeing his casual posture almost distrustfully. Mr. Sarutobi was clearly the teacher students let their guard down around. He was the teacher who'd overlook foul language, to whom regulated seating charts were a foreign concept. Students felt pressured to do his class's homework because… Well, come on, it was _Asuma_—what kind of asshole gave _him_ a hard time? Kids behaved during his lectures because he was the kind of teacher you _wanted_ to do favors for, not because anyone held serious fears of repercussions.

But just how much did he overlook to earn that kind of standing?

Shikamaru glanced her way as she physically shook her head to dislodge that thought. _Stop it. This is a fresh start, remember? Let's not create problems before the day's even begun._

Ugh. When had her inner voice started sounding so much like her mother?

The bell rang then, and the class settled down. She couldn't help noting that it sounded more like an alarm than any sort of bell, this sound that was about to start dictating her life. But it wasn't too sharp or grating a chime.

Asuma came around to seat himself atop his desk so he could better look out over them all—and so they could better see him. He grinned in that wry, almost patronizing, _Oh, you poor, naïve freshmen _sort of way. And most of them were playing into that already-familiar role, their returning smiles holding a touch of nervousness.

"Welcome to your first day at Konoha High. I'm Mr. Sarutobi. If that's not the name at the top of your schedule, you're in the wrong place." There was a moment of silence, where everyone looked around to see if anyone would get up and have to be awkwardly redirected to the right room. The first social blunder of the year. When no one did, Asuma picked up the clipboard beside him on the desk with that same grin. "I guess we'll see."

He proceeded to take attendance, and Ino had never been more relieved that her name would fall at the very end. She raised her hand when it was finally called… and had to resist the urge to immediately pull it back down again. Her scars nearly shone in the classroom's harsh lighting, and she hoped they weren't quite so visible to everyone else. But her name didn't cause the stir she'd been dreading. She let herself look around the room for the first time and felt another weight slowly lift from her shoulders. She didn't' see any faces belonging to the members of her former inner circle.

"Good," Asuma concluded when everyone was accounted for. "You've all overcome the first hurdle. Homeroom has been extended today, to let you all get settled in. So… how many of you managed to get your lockers open?"

This question was lighter, not quite so mocking. There were soft chuckles all around as very few hands made it into the air. Their trio sat back while most of their classmates got to their feet for another shot, Asuma following them out into the hallway with friendly advice.

"Well," Choji said once the quiet had settled over the few remaining in the classroom. "That wasn't so bad."

This was mostly directed at Shikamaru, who made a sound of confirmation as he stretched his arms over his head with another yawn. "Mmm. Too bad he won't be teaching any of our classes."

Ino had pulled out her schedule, looking it over for the umpteenth time. Asuma was right. She'd passed the first hurdle. But it was just the first. "Hey, what are you guys' first classes?"

"Biology," they chorused together, and her heart sank a little.

"Freshman Literature," she answered the unspoken question, trying not to sound too despondent.

"It'll be fine," Shikamaru said once that had settled in around them. "It's class. No matter who's in it with you, you'll be busy."

Ino nodded, twisting the little silver ring on her pinkie around and around. "I know. You're right."

And he was. It would be the study halls, the journeys between classes that held the real potential for stress. At least she knew she'd have her friends by her side for lunch. The school was small enough that there was just one lunch period, shared by all the grades together.

"One hour at a time," Choji coached, somehow managing not to sound like a cheesy cliché.

The end of their extended period came all too soon. Ino parted ways with the boys just outside the door. Nearly all of the science classrooms were on the other side of the building, but her first class was just down the hall.

Mr. Hatake's college prep freshman literature. Most of her classes fell in that 'college prep' sphere. It was considered the middle ground. The step between the 'general' and the 'honors' courses. She knew, if she pushed herself, she probably could have handled a few honors classes. But with everything going on that last year, her grades didn't really reflect that right now.

It was probably for the best anyway, she told herself. It wasn't like she didn't _still_ have a lot on her plate. One hour at a time.

She found her first class without any trouble and slipped into a seat by the door. Again she was suddenly hyperaware of the slump of her shoulders, how habitual it had become to keep her eyes glued to the floor, and she made a conscious effort to relax. This was her fresh start, unbound by any status quo of the past. _She_ got to choose who she wanted to be.

But all that resolve flew out the window a second later. There were two girls already seated on the opposite side of the room, chatting amiably. Ino found herself tuning in almost automatically.

"I was really surprised to see you here. I always pictured you in all honors classes."

The second girl laughed, a little awkward but clearly flattered. "Thanks. I almost am, but classes like this… where it's mostly interpretation instead of solid, straightforward answers… they've always been my weak spot."

All of her muscles tensed back up at the sound of that voice. No. It couldn't be. Of all her fears for today, this possibility had never crossed her mind. But when she dragged her eyes up, they immediately locked on to the shocking pink hair she remembered. She was fully expecting it when her insides froze too.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**I'm sure it's become clear already, but this is based around an American school system. It's just easiest for me, having one less thing to keep track of. But I figure I can get away with it, this being an AU and all. **


	2. Scars

**Well, full speed ahead, I suppose. The flashbacks start with this chapter, so be on guard for that. At one point I considered italicizing the flashbacks entirely… but it felt like a bit much. There's going to be a lot of flashbacks and reflecting on the past in this story, but I try to establish something about what age the characters are early on during those scenes, so it shouldn't be too hard to follow.**

**Thank you, **Little Liar**, for reviewing the first chapter!**

**Chapter Two: Scars**

Ino would never forget the day she met Sakura Haruno. At the time, it had seemed like such an ordinary occurrence.

They'd been ten years old. Early spring of her final year of elementary school. (Though that didn't have quite the impact it might have in another district, given her junior high days would take place in the same building.)

Ino was with her friends, relishing one of the last recesses they'd ever have—something they did take away with the ascension to middle school. She had Koharu on one side, Yuna on the other. They'd been walking around the perimeter of the schoolyard, laughing at something… when Ami ran up behind them, jumping up and landing with one hand on each of Ino's shoulders. The first three were walking so closely together that it made them all stumble, but they came back up giggling.

"Hey, Ino, have you seen the new girl yet?" Ami had sounded nearly giddy at being the one to impart this news. Her natural pace was practically that of an auctioneer, and it took Ino a moment to process this latest gossip.

"What, this late in the year?" Koharu cut in, catching on first.

"No, I haven't," Ino answered, as if her other friend hadn't spoken, looking around. "Who is she?"

Ami detached herself from around Ino's shoulders and pointed. They all turned to stare in that direction and found their target easily. The girl in question seemed to be doing her best not to draw attention to herself, standing awkwardly against the side of the jungle gym, but her bright pink hair did the job for her.

"She's in the class across the hall from us," Ami filled them in. "Her name's something flowery, think… Zatura, maybe?"

"Sakura, more likely," Ino corrected, lifting herself up on her tiptoes to try and get a better look. "You know, after the cherry blossom?"

"Oh, right…" Ami said, laughing sheepishly. "Makes sense that _you'd _know, Ino."

"I _should_," she shot back with a smile. "I did grow up in a flower shop. Come on. Let's go say hi."

She strode ahead, confident that the others would follow. They must have made quite the intimidating entourage, in hindsight, forging a path straight through the busy playground. Even so, they were nearly upon her before the new girl noticed them. She jumped a little, brining one hand up to her chest. Ino could just see a pair of bright green eyes peeking out from behind straggly, overlong bangs.

"I'm Ino," she introduced. "You're new, right?"

"Uh, yeah… I'm Sakura." Even her voice was faint and unassuming. Meek. But in a sweet way. Add a dash of confidence and she'd probably make for good company.

"Well, welcome to Konoha, Sakura. Where'd you move from?"

**…**

It had been that simple. Little by little, the more interest they'd shown, the more Sakura had opened up to them. Despite being in a different class, she'd quickly and easily folded into Ino's group of friends. By the time the next school year had started, it was like Sakura had always been one of them.

How quickly _that_ had changed… It left her feeling sick, thinking of how that change had come about.

None of the room's growing number of occupants seemed to notice her personal crisis. Her hands had clenched into fists atop her desk, her arms fencing in her brand new notebook and binder that she'd bought for this class. But once again, this left her scars on full display, and her eyes were drawn to them. Her physical reminder of the person she'd once been.

She traced them back in the opposite order that she'd received them. First the long one down her forearm, nearly reaching her elbow. Then the one across her hand—the strike that had really just grazed her but left a scar nonetheless on the thin skin of her outer hand. And finally the tiny one that had sliced through her knuckle. Ironically, the smallest scar… the one most people overlooked… was the one that had hurt the most. The one that had stung every time she flexed her fingers. She still remembered that sting sometimes, even now that it had healed.

"It won't be too bad." Speaking of unassuming presences… She was pretty sure they all jumped a little when their teacher spoke up from behind his desk. Apparently, he'd been listening in on Sakura's conversation too. "The upside of interpretative questions is that it's much harder to be wrong."

This interruption drew everyone's eyes in Kakashi Hatake's direction, and Ino was shocked to see that the room had filled up in her mental absence. But then the bell signaling first period rang, so she must have been out of it for longer than she'd thought. Her train of thought stopped abruptly upon catching sight of her new teacher for the first time.

His desk had been shoved into the corner, and Ino almost had to wonder if he'd somehow disconnected the one light directly above it on purpose, casting his one corner in shadow. But even with the shadows, they could all see that there was something a little off about his face. As Mr. Hatake sat forward, Ino realized that—from the bridge of his nose down—he was covered up by a burn mask. It was just a shade too peach to match the rest of his skin, and there was a small hole where his mouth was, though it was covered by some dark fabric. It stretched down under his turtleneck, but that only served to strengthen their imaginations at what horrors must lie beneath. (Only fueled further by the fact that the late summer weather made it quite unusual to see someone this covered up.)

To her credit, Sakura recovered quickly. "Yeah. I guess that's one way to look at it."

But Ino still felt like she was watching this scene from the other side of a one-way panel. From this distance, she allowed herself to look at her ex-friend more closely.

Sakura's hair had been cut as well—it didn't even reach her shoulders anymore. But more notably, it had been styled to keep her forehead clear. Leaving her own jagged scar free for all to see.

She was sucked back into that memory almost before she could stop herself.

**…**

Ino glanced over at her newest friend, sitting beside her on the bench outside her parents' shop. It was the first Saturday since Sakura had really claimed her place as one of them—sitting with them of her own accord at lunch, coming over to stand with their class as they all waited for their parents to arrive to walk them home at the end of each day—and Ino had a grand sleepover planned. The most girls her mother had ever agreed to let her have over at one time.

Sakura was the first to arrive. Already, she was making her mark as the responsible friend. Ino twirled a strand of her hair around her thumb and pointer finger. She was thinking of growing it out…

"Hey, Sakura," she spoke up. "Have you thought about doing anything with your bangs?"

Sakura brought a hand up to them self-consciously. "Are they really that bad?"

"They _are_ kind of a mess," Ino answered with a laugh. Honesty was the best policy, right? "Why do you want them long enough to hide behind anyway? You should really try to be more confident, Sakura."

"Yeah, I know… But…" She glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Then she slowly slipped her fingers under her bangs and pushed the hair up away from her skin.

Ino's eyes widened and her own movement stilled as she took in the jagged scar running at least four full inches across the length of her forehead. "Whoa! What happened?!"

"The first and only time I'll ever ride a horse." Ino just raised her eyebrows, waiting for more. "…It was more of a pony, really. My dad's friend raises them, and he wanted me to learn how to ride. But I panicked and fell off and cut my head open on a rock. They stitched it up, but… they couldn't get rid of this."

She ran a single fingertip across the scar's surface before letting her bangs fall back down. Ino was quiet for a minute, but she couldn't stand to see her friend looking so gloomy.

"I still think you should get rid of them altogether," she declared at last. "So you have some scar. It'll only be a big deal if you _make_ a big deal out of it. If you treat it like it's totally normal, pretty soon, everyone else will forget all about it too!"

**…**

Her words came back to her as if she'd just spoken them, taking in the sight of the other girl now. She'd been right. Sakura held herself with an air of confidence these days and—though she saw their other classmates taking in her scar—only a few of them lingered on it. It was just another aspect of her appearance—just_ as_ important, perhaps, as her height or hair color, but not _more _so.

Ino _wanted_ to feel proud of this progress. Of all that her old friend had overcome. It had stemmed from _her_ advice, after all.

But it brought about that familiar sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The differences in their growth were painful to absorb. Those equally familiar ugly thoughts were rising to the surface too. Had some part of her always known, deep down, that Sakura was stronger than she was?

Their teacher got to his feet and came to stand in front of them all. He leaned back against the blank whiteboard, hands in his pockets. "Well, I guess we'd better get started. I'm Mr. Hatake, and I'll be teaching your freshman lit class. I teach all the freshmen literatures, actually. You could say it's a specialty of mine. I also run the theater program after school, if that's of interest to any of you."

It wasn't as strange as she'd thought it would be, hearing him speak without being able to see his mouth move. All around her, she could see her classmates already getting used to it too.

"I'm not really one to jump right in and have to assign homework on the first day…" (She had to smile; Shikamaru would be pleased.) "So instead of the regular attendance… how about we go around the room and introduce ourselves? Names, hobbies, special talents… Anything you think is important that we all know about you."

Well. That was less reassuring. It had started to irk her whenever she heard this feeling in the pit of her stomach described as _butterflies_. That made it sound so… gentle, innocuous. _Shards of ice_ was more accurate.

Rapport already established, Mr. Hatake pointed to Sakura to start things off. She sat up a little straighter, that nervous look that had once been so common on her flashing across her features for a second. "Sure. Um, I'm Sakura Haruno. Some of you might recognize me, because I went to the lower school for a few years. This isn't my best subject… especially first thing in the morning… but I'm happy to be back, and it's good to see a lot of you again."

"Well said," Mr. Hatake acknowledged once she was finished, prompting the next girl. With a start, Ino realized that she recognized Sakura's friend as well. Not another of _her_ old friends, thankfully, but another lifelong Konoha student.

"I'm Hinata… Um… I don't have a lot of hobbies… J-just music." Her voice was so soft, when put on the spot like this, that Ino almost couldn't hear her from the other side of the room. Her whole face was beet red by the time she finished. But her stutter didn't sound as bad as it used to.

As the introduction continued around the room, Ino was surprised to see how few faces were familiar to her. Konoha was surrounded by a slew of smaller towns, many of which didn't have their own high schools. So the upper school always saw an increase in population, but after Sakura and Hinata, there were only two others she knew. Shino, who'd always been a bit… weird. (But she'd once felt the same way about Choji and Shikamaru, so she was trying not to rely too much on her past conceptions of people.) And the one who made her stomach flip over.

Ami also held herself with an air of surety. More confidence than Ino could ever remember seeing from her, in fact. Her memories of Ami Kokawa were of a girl who'd always latched onto her—sometimes quite literally. Like Yuna and Koharu and—for a time—Sakura, Ami had deferred to her in every way. Ami had been their main source of gossip, always so eager to be the one with news—to impress them in some way.

Ino had never seen the harm in that, back then. She and her other friends had never quietly looked down on Ami for it or anything. Everyone always made such a big to-do about gossip, but it was just words, right? It was precisely _because_ those words remained contained to small circles of friends like hers that they were harmless, right? It wasn't nearly as bad as being rude to someone's face. That had been her reasoning as a child, anyway.

Clearly, that had changed. Ino hadn't yet spared a thought towards who would have taken over her place as the girl everyone wanted to be, but looking at Ami now… she was pretty sure she'd gotten her answer. Her long dark hair was fanned out behind her, one hand propping up her chin almost primly. And still, she commanded the room's attention when she introduced herself… simply by sharing her name and that she was one of the few to prefer nonfiction to fiction writing.

Nonfiction writing… She supposed that was one way to put it. But it wasn't as if Ino had any room to judge.

Like with her first round of attendance that morning, Ino had been spared until nearly the very end, sitting on the other side of the room. Her heart rate picked up speed as her turn came ever closer, but she clenched her fists a little tighter and steeled herself to try and sound as normal as possible. She cleared her throat and did her best to keep her eyes on her new teacher.

"My name's Ino Yamanaka. I'm also back after going away for the last year of middle school, but I've lived in Konoha my whole life. My parents run the flower shop in town, so I help out there during most of my free time."

Her voice remained satisfyingly steady, but she was unable to avoid seeing at least two heads snap in her direction. She really did try to keep her eyes facing forward. Damn her peripheral vision.

Ami had actually brought a hand up to cover her mouth, but Ino recognized the almost gleeful look in her eyes. The girl did have quite the mischievous side. She tried not to linger on that. Her eyes swung to Hinata before she allowed herself to look at Sakura. The timid girl's eyes were even wider than before, and her mouth had popped open into a little O, but she didn't make a sound and looked away when she saw Ino looking. And finally, she let herself look at Sakura.

The other girl was watching her with an expression Ino couldn't quite pin down. It didn't seem calculating, exactly… But she was sure her brain was working a million miles a minute. Those enigmatic green eyes brought the shards of ice back to her stomach, so she looked away. Once again, she'd gotten caught up in her own head. She'd completely missed the remaining introductions of the few students seated ahead of her in the row, leading back up to the front of the room.

Mr. Hatake strolled casually back over to his desk and grabbed a stack of papers off the top. He handed it over to the boy seated at the top of her row, and he took one, passing along the rest.

"That's the syllabus for the year," Mr. Hatake announced, sounding almost bored. "It's posted up on the school website as well, in case you lose yours. The extended homeroom cut into our class period today, so we don't have much longer anyway…" (Ino noticed curiously that only one of his eyes moved when he glanced at the clock.) "So how's for some parting advice? How many of you would consider yourself to be procrastinators?"

Nearly every hand rose into the air, some almost proudly. Kakashi looked like he'd expected as much. At last, his own hand rose up as well.

"Most of us are. We all live busy lives. Time can have a way of slipping away from us, even when we have every intention of staying on top of thing. It's only when procrastination becomes a way of life that things start to get dicey. I'm sure some of you put off _every _assignment until the last minute. Just remember this: It can only be considered procrastination so long as the work still gets done on time. If not, that's not procrastinating. At that point, you're just not doing the work."

Mr. Hatake's casual, drawling voice had a way of drawing them all in. He sounded like he had all the time in the world. Like there was wisdom just waiting to be gleaned from his thoughts… They all jumped a little at the sound of the bell. His new students remained frozen in their seats for another second before Kakashi waved a hand dismissively and they all launched into a flurry of motion.

Caught up in the delay, Ino rushed to tuck the class syllabus into her folder, allowing many of her classmates to surge out ahead of her. When she finally shot to her feet, she nearly collided with the girl trying to get out behind her. "Oh! Sorry!"

She whirled around… and of course it was Sakura. Why would it be anyone else? "It's fine. No problem."

Her expression was still closed off, but her eyes were cold. Defiant, almost. Like she was daring Ino to mess with her. Again. She averted her eyes, and Sakura brushed past her, but the damage was already done.

That cold look… She could practically hear the accompanying sound of shattering glass… the feel of the rock as it flew from her fingers.

She thought she could feel Mr. Hatake's eyes on her after this confrontation, however brief. But she kept her head down and hurried out of the classroom. She couldn't stand the thought of someone trying to comfort her right now. As if she deserved anyone's sympathy. _She_ was the antagonist in this story. Ino couldn't believe she'd almost allowed herself to forget that.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**And so we've seen the first major hurdle. I plan for the flashbacks to be mostly chronological. They should tell a fairly linear story, only skipping about a little. **


	3. New Faces

**It was around this chapter that I started to really feel just how long this day is… And there are still a few more chapters to go before we reach the end of this 'longest first day.' But I wanted to be thorough about setting things up so I don't have to keep pausing the story to explain things as we get further into it.**

**Chapter Three: New Faces**

Ino kept her head down as she walked swiftly down the hall and ducked into the nearest restroom. She locked herself in a stall and backed up against the garish pink wall, folders and binders held tightly to her chest, and squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to keep the tears at bay.

One hour at a time… But there were just too many hours in the day. She couldn't do this.

She tried to keep her breathing quiet as she heard other girls filter in and out, time ticking away. She was meant to be on her way to gym right now, but she couldn't seem to move.

Ino finally took a deep breath and unlatched one arm from around her belongings. She slipped that hand into her pocket, fingering the cell phone she was supposed to have left in her locker. It would take less than 30 seconds for her to pull it out and dial either of her parents' numbers, start begging them to come take her home.

But…

**…**

The room was already so dim, though it was just after three in the afternoon. The sun set so early this time of year. Ino found herself focusing on this, rather than her mother, seated intimidatingly at the counter, her hands folded in front of her face.

Mrs. Yamanaka was an intimidating woman on a good day. Her father had always been the one to dote on her, but Ino had always admired her mother. She was powerful, elegant… And moments like these reminded Ino why watching her verbally take down someone else always left her with a feeling of dread—no matter how much the other person deserved it.

But now that these qualities were being set on her, the staging of the scene was feeling downright eerie. Her father wasn't home yet, and Ino found herself wishing for any sort of buffer. She straightened up with the tension as her mother sighed.

"I wish I knew why you insist upon wasting your talents, Ino. You have all the traits of a natural leader… and now I have to hear that you used your influence to convince all your friends to gang up on some other girl? A girl with far less power or influence than any of you, I might add."

Ino had been gritting her teeth through all of this, but now she burst out, "She was hardly the innocent little scholar that everyone always makes her out to be! She _knew_ I liked Sasuke first! And she went after him anyway!"

Her mother silenced her with a cold look. "Ino Yamanaka… You are twelve years old. You have your entire future ahead of you and every advantage we've been able to give you. I take a lot of pride in knowing you're _my_ daughter… And the thought of my daughter turning herself into such a pitiful cliché… the shallow popular girl, throwing away her dignity over some _boy_… is unacceptable!"

**…**

Ino opened her eyes, staring down at the mostly empty folders and binders still clutched to her chest. Her mother had concluded this same conversation with the news that she'd already been enrolled in the prestigious Rosewood Girls' Academy for her final year of junior high.

At that point, Ino had been furious. She'd screamed, cried, stormed off… When her mother had been entirely unaffected, she'd appealed to her dad, but he'd been in no position to override Mrs. Yamanaka's decision.

But that had just been the beginning. By the end of the school year, she'd been ready for _Rosewood_ to be her fresh start. Once _she_ became the one her friends had all turned on…

She heard the last pair of footsteps leave the bathroom and figured the final bell would soon be on their heels. Ino slowly pulled her other hand back out of her pocket, leaving her phone where it was. She was sure her mother would cave to her pleas today… She'd certainly felt guilty enough after all that happened at Rosewood to let her daughter transfer back. Hell, her mom had even been _against_ Ino's return to Konoha. She'd offered to look into other high schools, do whatever it took short of relocating the whole family to get her daughter accepted into one of those schools. But Ino had been adamant about coming back here. How could she go back on that now? After the fight she'd put up to convince her mother she was strong enough?

But where did that leave her?

"Come on, Ino, don't make me start breaking rules on the first day. My mom'll kill me if I get detention already."

She jumped at the sound of that familiar voice, raised just enough to be able to say he was calling out to her. But it echoed off the tiles of the bathroom walls and propelled her forward. She hurried to throw the latch back and rushed out of the stall. And sure enough, there was Shikamaru, standing awkwardly just inside the doorway, one hand brought up to the back of his head. He seemed relieved that it hadn't taken more of a fight to get her out.

"Shikamaru!" she exclaimed.

He immediately backed out of the room—Ino obligingly on his heels—glancing up as he did so. He wrinkled his nose. "That's horrifying. The walls I get. Sort of. But why bother painting the _ceiling_ pink?"

Even after all that had been plaguing her thoughts mere seconds before, she had to giggle. "What? Are the boys' bathrooms _not_ a tribute to ancient gender conventionalities?"

"Not that I've seen, no."

They lapsed into silence for a moment, still standing just outside the now-empty hallway. Softly, she finally asked, "How did you know where to find me?"

"Choji's locker is right there," he said, pointing. And with a start, she did recognize this stretch of hallway from this morning. She'd been too caught up in her thoughts to really notice where she was going. "Right next to Shino Aburame's. We came back to put away our last class's _giant_ textbook…" (How could a look be so long-suffering, stemming from an experience he'd only had for an hour?) "And Shino said he saw you rushing out of your Lit class, looking sick. Choji's class is a few doors down. He couldn't be seen just hanging around in the hallway. So he went to class, and I circled back around."

He made it sound so simple, but it nearly made her eyes well up again. But the warmth was accompanied by a stab of guilt. "What about _your_ second class?"

"Gym. Like you, if I remember correctly. We should probably get going, by the way. At least we can pretend we got lost, it being the first day and all."

He still sounded so unconcerned. But he easily followed her lead as she started for the stairs to the first floor. "I'm sorry I've been such a mess today." And most of the summer, if she was being honest…

He shrugged. "You've got a lot going on right now. I take it class wasn't so easy after all?"

She paused. Long enough for Shikamaru to glance at her worriedly. At last, very quietly, she said, "Did you hear? Sakura came back too."

Shikamaru wasn't one for dramatic reactions. So the way his eyes widened was really enough of an answer on its own. But he gave voice to it anyway. "No, I didn't hear… Maybe she wanted to make some grand, surprise entrance… Doesn't sound like the Sakura I remember, though."

Their lives had been so separate back then… Ino often forgot that Choji and Shikamaru had been party to the conflict going on between herself and Sakura… and then herself and all her old friends. That they might have their own perceptions of those people and events. The thought made her insides squirm, so she tried not to linger on that.

"Yeah…" she murmured. "I doubt she's doing it to cause a scene. She seems… stronger than she used to be." Ino was suddenly certain that she and her once-friend had returned to the district with the same goal in mind: to reclaim the confidence that had been taken from them here. So far… only Sakura seemed to be on the path to success.

Shikamaru's thoughtful hum came out sounding more like a groan. She was sure he was trying to think of something reassuring to say… but it wasn't like she could just rearrange her whole schedule to switch out of any classes she shared with Sakura. …Well, she supposed she _could_, if she did enough begging at the guidance office. But she hadn't come back just to keep running away from her problems.

"It's fine," she told him. "It just caught me off-guard."

They'd reached the first floor. She wasn't sure how well their 'getting lost' excuse would hold up, in hindsight. The gym was the biggest room in the school, after all, taking up most of the ground floor. The school offices, cafeteria, and auditorium took up most of the rest. The was just one small corner wing of the first floor that held regular academic classrooms. With so few other options, it really should have been one of the easiest classes to find. And the doors to the locker rooms were located inside.

She and Shikamaru parted ways there, and Ino slunk down the stairs to the girls' locker room. (Staircase after staircase… She knew there were a few classes located on the basement floor as well, but this particular entrance was like descending into some evil lair.)

She took a deep breath before pushing through the door to the locker room… Where, sure enough, the teacher seemed to already be done with attendance. There were about twenty other girls seated on the benches set up before the tall beige lockers lining the walls. And of course all eyes shot her way when she walked in late, along with a smattering of giggles that seemed to echo in the quiet.

Among the gigglers, Ino spotted Yuna. Somehow, the hand brought up to cover her mouth made her even less subtle. She was squeezed in between two girls Ino didn't recognize but who were clearly on the same wavelength. New friends… She shouldn't be surprised. Yuna had always been the most… bubbly. Was this doomed to be her new routine? One ex-friend for every class? Would she not get even one hour of peace?

But there, on the other side of the room, she saw Hinata. The shyest of her classmates averted her eyes at the scene, purposely _not_ staring at Ino like the others. Like a silent protest. But it was reassuring, in its quiet way. Ino hurried to take a seat on that side of the room, flashing an embarrassed smile at the spiky-haired instructor who, thankfully, didn't seem upset and didn't ask any questions.

"And you must be the last straggler. Ino Yamanaka, right?" She nodded, feeling the full strength of that first-day grace period, and the teacher checked off the last name on her clipboard. "Well, as I was saying… I'm Coach Mitarashi! Welcome to second period gym! I'd say _freshmen_… and most of you are… but PE is only mandatory for the first two years—so I see a few familiar faces, taking this class as an elective. Glad to have you back!"

Nearly everything that came out of her mouth sounded like an exclamation. Ino glanced around again. After her first class, she'd been less surprised to see some unfamiliar faces. But at Coach Mitarashi's words, she thought some of them _did_ look like they might be juniors or seniors. Particularly the blond girl with the four pigtails at the end of the middle bench… One peek revealed crossed arms, one leg crossed over the other, and an intense expression. The other girls on her bench seemed to be giving her as much space as possible without shoving off the girl at the opposite end. And Ino was right there with them. She had no intention of getting on _that_ one's bad side.

"We're starting things off a little late today," Anko continued, "to let you all get settled in. You'll find two pairs of the gym uniform in each locker. The school supplies a one-size-fits-all type, but we can talk about appropriate substitutes if anyone needs special accommodations for that. Everybody pick a locker and bring the lock to my office, one at a time. I have a list of locks, and I'll write down your combinations. I'm sure I don't need to say this, but keep your combinations to yourselves. I've seen friends decide to share locker before, and something _always_ winds up missing. So please just save us all the trouble."

She already sounded a bit exasperated, her words coming across like a scold, but it got the point across. She turned and walked pointed back into her office, the little walled-off room beside the stairs. Her handful of returning students were already in motion, no doubt tired of this first-day speech by now. Slowly, following the older girls' lead, they all rose from their spots. Some lockers had already been claimed by the first-period students, and Ino purposely chose a locker sandwiched between two of the previously-claimed ones.

She was one of the first students in and out of Coach Mitarashi's office and managed just as easily with this lock. She grabbed one set of gym clothes—which were the same pale green and gaudy orange of the school's insignia—and headed towards the back of the locker room. The back half was split into two sections—a shower half with eight, barely-separated stations and a regular bathroom half with sinks and stalls. Ino headed for one of the stalls, glad she'd gotten here early. There were notably few places where one could change while completely concealed. Though she supposed the showers looked dry, at least. She doubted many showers were actually taken in this place. Which was probably why the whole locker room reeked of clashing perfumes.

She reemerged and walked as slowly back to the main room as possible. It came as no surprise to see some of her more confident classmates—many of those who'd grown up to be the popular girls—changing right out there in the open. She fiddled with her locker for a moment, locking away her regular clothes. But once that was done, there was nothing to do but sit back down on the bench and wait.

But it wasn't long before someone sat down beside her. Ino looked up to see none other than Hinata Hyuga, smiling at her in her usual timid way. Ino was a little surprised, though, when she took the initiative and spoke first. "Um, Ino? I just wanted to say… that I'm glad you came back."

"That makes one of us!" The voice rang out, high-pitched and just a _little_ aggressive, but no one else reacted. The ordinary chatter that had filled the space continued. It was like Ino and Hinata were the only two who'd even heard it. It could have easily been passed off as a part of a completely separate conversation.) Ino couldn't put a name and a face to that voice… It didn't sound like Yuna, but she was sure it was someone in that circle. It struck her that she didn't even know who all made up that roster anymore. Though, clearly, they'd all been debriefed on _her_.

Hinata ducked her head and lowered her voice but pushed on. "I just mean… I know it couldn't have been easy."

_You don't know the half of it_, she thought, but Anko called them all to order a second later. By the time they made it back up to the gym, the boys were already there. The equipment room had been opened as well, and a rack of assorted sports' balls had been wheeled out. …Many of which were already rolling free across the floor. And most of the boys were running after them, or just goofing off in general. The girls grouped up on the sidelines by the door, Anko coming up behind them. She sighed. But also didn't seem surprised.

"All right, everybody, huddle up!" Coach Mitarashi's voice always rang with authority, but the echo in this room made it especially harsh. The boys stopped abruptly and made to comply. As they drew closer, a bright, booming laugh rang out through the room as well, and Ino caught sight of the boys' gym teacher for the first time.

She could tell she wasn't the only one taken aback. A few of the boys sniggered at the looks on their faces. Striding towards them across the court was a tall, muscled man in a bright green track suit. That cliché of a fashion faux pas might have been enough. But the swagger in his gait, the pristine bowl cut, and eyebrows that were twice the width (at least!) of the average person's… It all combined to make for quite the image.

"I'm Coach Gai!" he announced, still projecting his voice despite now standing just a foot away. "Welcome to your first year of physical education! The most noble class of all! Here you will learn teamwork, strategy, and skills to better your life and health—all through glorious exercise!"

Oh good… He was one of _those_ types… But no. She shook her head again—though only mentally this time. She wasn't doing that anymore. Judging people based on their outward appearances… You never knew what lay beneath. That was one of the promises she'd made to herself that night, before her wounds had even been cleaned.

"…More on that later." Coach Mitarashi glossed over Gai's exuberance with an expert's grace. She opened her mouth to continue but then paused. "Yes?"

Ino turned to see Yuna just lowering her hand from around the other side of the huddle. "About what you said before… Is it really true that gym is only required for two years?"

This led to a smattering of excited murmurs from many of the girls and quite a few of the boys. Ino glanced at Coach Gai, expecting his heart to be breaking, but he remained there with his confident beam and shiny teeth. Perhaps he thought he'd be able to win them all over before the year was done. Well. Who was she to destroy his dreams?

Anko leveled them all with a look. "_If _you pass the fitness test next year. But you'll be hearing plenty more on that later. We don't have much time left today, so we're just going to go through the daily warmup, and then you can all have free time."

They spread out around the room as directed, Coach Gai taking his spot in the center to model for them all. It was pretty typical stuff. PE warmups had always doubled as a low-key social hour, but Gai was too wrapped up in his own enthusiasm to be bothered enough to reprimand him.

For once, Ino actually focused on the stretches. They'd dropped to the floor, and she obediently sank into the first stretch, reaching for her toes with both hands, one layered over the other. She reached her target with ease and felt a small swell of pride. If nothing else, she'd been slowly building up her physicality over the summer, going on runs in the mornings before it got too hot. That was one worry she was safe from, at least—she should be able to pass the fitness test next year just fine.

The volume of giggling rose a bit, and Ino couldn't help glancing up. They were supposed to be spaced at even intervals, but a bunch of the girls had shifted closer and closer together, until whispering actually seemed plausible. Something about this scene was familiar… She raised her eyes higher… and realized who was seated almost directly across the circle from this group.

Oh no…

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Oh man… The next chapter is all gym too. This first day is actually never going to end… **


	4. Sasuke

**And here comes the motivation for the dark backstory… I'm sure it will be a shock to no one. I do like to keep at least a semblance of canon in my AUs.**

**Thank you for reviewing chapter three: **Guest**!**

**Chapter Four: Sasuke**

It seemed like a major hole, in hindsight, but Ino couldn't actually remember when she first took notice of Sasuke Uchiha. He, too, had lived in Konoha his whole life and, like so many of her friends from her younger days, it kind of felt like he'd always just _been_ there.

And he'd always been the most desirable student around. He wasn't actually that outgoing or generous. He didn't possess any of the qualities that tended to draw the company of small children. In hindsight, he was always rather quiet, withdrawn. Serious. Perhaps he garnered so much respect because he resembled a much older child. Even in their earliest years, he'd been so disciplined. Always a step ahead in their lessons, never letting loose, even during recess…

His skills had impressed his classmates. His manners had charmed his teachers. But as the years passed, the air around him seemed to grow ever thicker, until there might as well have been a physical barricade around him. The unanimous sense of awe slowly divided into those who harbored romantic feelings for him… and those who grew to resent him for his popularity. For some, that resentment was milder, but very few were truly neutral.

This was the era of her elementary years that Ino remembered most clearly. The time when she had cemented herself as his most passionate admirer.

The shock subsiding, she allowed herself to observe him with unbiased eyes. He'd grown to be just as handsome as she'd known he would, and he seemed as stoic as ever, his eyes averted from the obvious fangirling taking place across the room… But after the initial surprise… Ino found that the sight of him didn't stir up any emotions in her at all. All the things she'd done in the name of their 'love' was on _her_ shoulders. She'd already accepted that.

**…**

She'd been so naïve… So… entitled. She'd honestly believed Sasuke had _belonged_ to her, in a way. The most desirable boy and the most popular girl. In her eyes, they'd been akin to small-town royalty. And everyone knew a princess could only marry a prince, right?

She still remembered that first day cracks had appeared in her vision as if it had just happened. Konoha was such a small town, most students walked to and from town. Ino and her friends had all finally gotten their parents to agree to let them make the journey without adult supervision. (After all, they _were_ officially junior high students. No one wanted to be the lone older student waiting for their parents at the end of the day alongside all the little kids.)

They were just a few weeks in—just long enough for this new routine to start to feel normal. The group had been running a little late that day. They'd finally gotten the grades back for their summer work, and Koharu, who'd gotten a nearly perfect score anyway—had lingered behind to debate one of the critiques on her essay. Ami had remained just out of sight outside the door, declaring that she'd wait for their friend; the others could go on ahead.

Ino had just managed to avoid rolling her eyes at such an obvious ploy to eavesdrop uninterrupted, but Yuna had agreed easily, eager to get home. The group's other blond was something of a secret nerd. Ino didn't get the appeal, personally, but she knew a new game had come out and Yuna—who'd talked an older cousin into sneaking her out to the midnight release—was itching to play it. Her friend's thoughts had checked out the moment their last class had ended, so the only sounds as they walked through the already-deserted hallways were their own footsteps and the squeaking of their sneakers. Ino left Yuna in silence, glancing around at the mostly-empty school.

It was almost eerie, how quickly the building emptied out at the end of the day. But it was nice in a way, too, having the freedom to walk the halls at will without being stopped by a teacher and asked for an explanation. Sixth grade was their first taste of switching rooms and teachers for each class, but the whole grade was located down a single hallway. The five minutes between classes were easily monitored, and the teachers for the special classes—like gym and music—would appear at the end of the hall after each period to act as an escort. She was already impatient for the freedom promised by high school and beyond.

In hindsight, she wasn't sure if she'd call the timing of the game release lucky. What she did know, was that if Yuna had been her usual chatterbox self, her eyes wouldn't have been wandering around their surroundings. And she wouldn't have caught the glimpse of one very familiar figure disappearing around the corner.

She stopped abruptly, and it took her friend a few seconds to realize she'd left her behind. Ino's decision was instant. She waved her hand almost dismissively. "Uh, you know what, Yuna? I forgot something too. You go on ahead, okay?"

Yuna agreed to this easily, as Ino had known she would, and she hurried away. She slunk down the next hallway, trying to silence her movements. She even considered slipping out of her sneakers… but that would make things even weirder if she got caught. After all, the whole point of catching Sasuke on his own _was_ to confront him. If she was being totally honest, they had yet to have a real conversation. She was just waiting for a good opening, to make it seem natural.

But he was quite a ways ahead of her, and he ducked into a classroom before that perfect moment presented itself. Well. That was fine. Better, even. This way she could hide somewhere closer… and just _happen_ to run into him when he came back out of the room.

And she did hasten down to the next corner, keeping he head ducked as she passed the classroom. She stood with her back to the wall just around the corner, doubly glad the school was so empty. But this plan did not come to be either. She was prepared to jump into action when she heard the door reopen… until she realized it was accompanied by the sound of voices.

"I'm so glad I ran into you, Sasuke. I was just going to leave it with the teacher, but now I don't have to worry about whether it got back to you or not."

Ino froze. She knew that voice. Sakura had been suspiciously absent from their after-school meet-up as well. Honestly, she hadn't given it much thought, they were all so scattered today. But now Ino felt little beads of dread beginning to form in her stomach. What exactly was going on here?

"Thank you for bringing it back." Sasuke's voice—a rare treat—was soft as ever and sent something aflutter in her chest.

Sakura sounded more nervous than Ino had heard her in quite a while. She could all too easily picture her newest friend—smiling shyly, her hands brought up in front of her chest in that demure way—and could feel something ugly welling up beneath the dread, propelling it to the surface. "Of course. The beginning of our names are so similar, I guess she handed it back to me on accident."

They continued on down the hallway, heading in the opposite direction, while Ino remained frozen around the corner. Their voices faded until she could no longer make out their words… but continued on all the same. She wasn't aware her hand had clenched into a fist until she was shocked out of her stupor by the bite of nails into her palm.

She could feel herself descending into a dark, mental pit and tried to clear her head with deep breaths… but was pretty sure it just brought her one step closer to hyperventilation. Sakura was her newest friend… but was also moving quickly along the path to being her most trusted. There was just something… sweeter about her than Ino's other friends. An innocence she'd maintained.

She knew which parts of herself Yuna, Ami, and Koharu would secretly mock. Which of her secrets she could never afford to share, lest they somehow _anonymously_ become another growth on the school's gossip vine.

She'd never felt those barriers with Sakura. Even her pettiest thoughts had felt safe to share with Sakura. But apparently her new friend had some selfish inclinations of her own. And that's what made this betrayal truly unforgivable.

**…**

They'd moved to the standing stretches, Coach Gai still demonstrating with as much enthusiasm as ever. Ino had kept her eyes averted since their first glimpse, but a loud laugh drew them back over in Sasuke's direction.

For the first time, she realized that she recognized the blond boy beside Sasuke as well. Naruto Uzumaki. As a child he'd been the unrivaled most annoying kid in their school. The kid whose pranks got to be so obnoxious that even the other troublemakers didn't want to associate with him. (If she'd had to guess, she'd be willing to bet Koharu still held a grudge for that time he'd filled her pencil case with bugs.)

But she distinctly remembered Sasuke being on their side in this. Even Sasuke, who'd always been so above his classmates' social dictates and petty wars, had not been able to escape his ire for the other boy. Ino had seen his silent glares, those few occasions he'd almost stooped to actually fighting him… If anything, there'd been a general feeling that Sasuke had hated Naruto the _most_.

But now, she could clearly see him struggling to suppress a smile at whatever joke Naruto had just told. In fact, now that she looked more closely, Sasuke's little isolation bubble didn't seem to be quite so impenetrable anymore. Like some invisible thread connected Naruto and Sasuke. And—as she spotted Shikamaru on Sasuke's other side, rolling his eyes at whatever they were laughing at—it occurred to her that it wasn't just those two, alone against the world. The distance seemed to have disappeared almost entirely. Like their classmates had somehow reached a new acceptance for him in her absence.

It was a boggling realization that she still hadn't quite managed to wrap her mind around. But as they started their lap around the gymnasium—in more or less a single-file line—a feeling of clarity slowly settled in. It had started as she observed everyone in her first class… and felt painfully obvious now. After all, why should _she_ be the only one to grow and change?

Their warm-up came to an end, some of her classmates groaning dramatically as their pace slowed to a stop. They reformed their loose circle around the two gym teachers, more than a few glancing—without a hint of subtlety—at the clock.

"We wrap up class five minutes before the bell," Anko went on now. "Which gives you about ten minutes of free time today. We'll start the first section tomorrow. The girls will start with volleyball, the boys with soccer. You'll each get two weeks of one sport and then switch to the other—with a written theory test before moving on. This is the basic format for the year. There are some sections you'll do together. Like the next one, which will be the fitness testing for the year. But you'll be hearing plenty more about that as we get closer."

They were set free for the rest of the period. The boys broke out of the crate of balls again—Naruto and Kiba, another old classmate, leading that charge. She saw Coach Mitarashi sigh as a bunch of her girls huddled off into an out-of-the-way corner where they could hang out and chat in peace. Ino hesitated for a moment… before starting another leisurely lap around the perimeter of the gym.

She managed to stay out of everyone's way, and vice versa. She started to fall into the familiar pattern that had begun to develop during her morning runs. At first, her thoughts would move as quickly as Ino herself. And then, as she settled into this new state—even her harsher breathing becoming somewhat comfortable—her mind would even out too. And now it allowed her to take everything in with calmer eyes.

She passed by the group of girls but didn't give them a second glance. She managed to stay well out of the way of the impromptu little soccer game going on across the slippery gym floor. (And they managed to keep things just contained enough that the ball never came skittering into her path.) It was mostly chaos. Naruto and Kiba seemed to care more about blocking each other at every turn than actually leading their respective teams to victory. The other boys just seemed to be running all over the place around them, waiting to see if the ball would come their way.

She allowed herself an extra second to watch Sasuke, standing guard over one of the makeshift goals—marked off by bright orange cones. He appeared relaxed, almost bored. But she could tell he was tracking every movement with alert eyes.

She lapped Shikamaru, who'd chosen to walk at a leisurely pace in her footsteps. If Choji had been in their class, she had no doubt that the two would have holed up in the bleachers somewhere. But it was harder for one person to get away with doing nothing during their 'free exercise' time. And he certainly wasn't joining in the game. Or her run. She could see the weary sigh written across his features and had to smile.

For the first time all day, she felt at peace, taking in everything from a distance like this. At the last minute, she caught sight of the only two she'd missed, nearly hidden off in the corner opposite the horde of gossiping girls. She immediately recognized the older girl—Temari—from her distinctive hairstyle. She was a force to be reckoned with; Ino had been able to tell that just from sitting with her in the locker room. Now, her presence had quite literally backed the boy she was talking to into a corner.

Just from that glance she could tell he wasn't another upperclassman reenrolled in PE by choice. She was willing to bet he was another freshman, like herself, and everything about him seemed… small. He didn't look to have hit his growth spurt yet, and she got the feeling he wouldn't be the most athletic kid around even when he did. He was extremely pale, making his bright red hair stick out even more. He sticklike arms were crossed almost sullenly over his chest, and he was half turned away from her. She couldn't tell what they were arguing about—just that it was clear that they were—before Coach Mitarashi blew her whistle to call them all back together.

They all descended back into the depths of their respective locker rooms. Five minutes hadn't sounded like very long, (and she supposed it _would_ feel rushed if they were ever running a little late) but they were all changed into their regular clothes and seated back on the benches awaiting the final bell with plenty of time to spare before it rang.

One more hour down. And she found herself surprisingly ready to discover what the next one would bring.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Establishing the setting and all the relevant characters sure is a lot of work… The next chapter will cover more than one class period, though not quite the end of this longest first day. But it's coming. In hindsight, I suppose this really could have been tacked on to the end of the last chapter... Even if that would have made it quite long. I just couldn't pass up the cliffhanger, though... **


	5. Together Again

**This one felt a little dry, even to me. But I needed to get this first day moving. I don't know if anyone else is enjoying exploring Ino's past friends as much as I am… I know these early chapters are very OC-heavy. The recognizable canon characters will have more of a presence as we get further into things. **

**Chapter Five: Together Again**

Ino left the gym feeling more normal than she had all day. There was still that persistent little voice in the back of her mind, warning her not to get ahead of herself. But the accompanying dread wasn't there. As she made her way back up to the second floor, she found herself pondering her schedule rather than scanning her surroundings and stressing over which of her classmates might be heading in the same direction.

History. A nice, slow subject to cool down with after PE. It had never been her best subject, to be honest. She wasn't great with names and dates. But that divide wouldn't be so clear just yet. The freshmen didn't have an honors section when it came to history. (It was a steep climb up to the advanced placement course offered to them as juniors.) Which was why the only reason the sight before her was not so bewildering after all.

Ino recognized the swish of Koharu Owari's long blonde hair as she slipped into the seat in front of her. Hinata's words from earlier that morning came back to her. _I was really surprised to see you here. I always pictured you in all honors classes_. As far as Ino was concerned, no one fit that description better than this last member of her old inner circle.

If Sakura had been bright, Koharu was exceptional. The epitome of the honor student. She studied more than anyone Ino knew, yet was also able to naturally absorb information like a sponge. Whenever Ami or Yuna would have questions—usually last-minute, with the test fast approaching—Koharu was the one always ready to recite back the words from the relevant lesson, verbatim. She'd been the responsible one, the one most likely to get them out of whatever trouble they'd foolishly stumbled into. Ino may have had the charisma, but Koharu had logic on her side. She was above reproach, always.

But…

It was the sight of Koharu that evoked the first stirrings of anger within her. Yuna was flighty, Ami petty, but Koharu was the one who'd felt truly deceptive.

**…**

Always so predictable… It had been all too easy for Ino to hang around undetected after the final class let out for the day. They'd had a math test that morning. So of course Koharu had lingered behind to go over every detail of every question. Like she always did. A process that would be repeated as soon as the grades were back.

And what a lengthy process it was. By the time Koharu reemerged and spotted her, Ino had slumped back against the wall. She did not seem surprised, only resigned when Ino straightened back up with a firm expression. But that was fine. Ino hadn't expected her to crumble under pressure.

Koharu sighed. "I don't have anything to say to you."

She started walking, and Ino matched her stride for stride. "Well, that's funny, considering how much you had to say to the principal!" And the teachers, and Sakura's parents, and all the important adults in their lives it would seem.

She could see the other girl's resolve strengthening as she sized up the battle Ino was preparing. "I didn't tell anyone anything that was untrue."

"No, you just polished up the truth to make it look like you were innocent in all this." Ino had planned to remain in control, but then, what _had_ gone according to plan lately? She was fuming, her voice shaking.

"I didn't throw that rock. Or lure Sakura into the woods." _She_ was having no trouble keeping her voice steady. "I'm _not_ like you and the rest of your followers."

_Followers…_ Like she actually believed that Ino was accumulating some sort of cult within the school. She grit her teeth. "You know, you can only be the innocent witness to so many things before someone starts to catch on."

Finally, she seemed to have gotten under Koharu's skin. The other blonde stopped abruptly, turning to stand directly in front of her so that Ino could take another step forward either. "If you insist on going there, then fine. Let me spell this out for you: Some of us don't have all the same privileges you do. _My_ parents couldn't afford to whisk me away to the most prestigious private school in the area if _I_ made a major misstep."

Koharu continued on her way in one smooth movement, leaving a spluttering Ino behind. Her life had been ruined and _that_ was what she got out of it? Koharu was jealous of Ino's exile to Rosewood?

It wasn't like Ino hadn't been aware that Koharu's family wasn't as well-off as her own—or any of her other friends'. It wasn't something they ever really talked about, but they were old enough to have that silent understanding. This was the first time Ino had ever heard this sort of bitterness from her about it.

Was that it, then? Had she always just been a stepping stone to her? She knew Koharu accepted only the best from herself, striving for that successful future her parents could only dream of. Did her friends fall under that category too? If so, she'd certainly attached herself to the right group. Once upon a time, anyway… And now that the group in question was self-destructing, she'd detached herself from them with an insulting level of ease.

**…**

Koharu was the only one she'd had a true confrontation with. She had to wonder if there had been other dramatic fallings-out with her other ex-friends. But… She mentally flashed back to this morning, seeing Koharu and Yuna's meeting by the lockers.

She was sure the girl had distanced herself from her past group, but Ino doubted she'd cut ties with them completely. Koharu wasn't the type to burn bridges over emotional fallouts. That was the game, she supposed. Maintaining as many possible connections without tying yourself down to anyone.

Ino took a deep breath, unclenching her fists. It was all in the past, she reminded herself. She'd come back to move on from her old life, not to reclaim it. She didn't need Koharu's approval. _Koharu_ certainly wasn't looking for her forgiveness.

To Ino's own surprise, she felt… strong. For the first time all day, she had faced adversity and let it bounce off of her. And she could do it again.

The rest of the class passed on like a regular lesson. The constant coughing and throat-clearing from their teacher's cold got on her nerves a bit by the end of the hour. And that particular fact was sure to only get worse in the coming days, as history was a very lecture-heavy subject. But for now, this was one class that had been truly painless.

This was followed by biology, where she caught sight of both Sakura and Yuna once more. She watched—seated purposely across the room once more—as Yuna greeted Sakura with her usual energy, like they were long-lost friends. As if Yuna had not been a part of her old gaggle of tormentors. And Sakura fended her off with an awkward sort of grace.

Choji and Shikamaru hadn't been kidding about the biology textbook. It was twice the weight of the one she'd been given for history the period before. Her arms already felt sore at the thought of lugging it around for the rest of the year.

She was able to commiserate with them in person right after, when they all met up for lunch. The volume in the cafeteria was a bit of a shock to her system, even having adapted to the school a bit. While in line, they practically had to shout to be heard. But the smile never left her face, and she didn't catch sight of any strange looks or whispers directed at her. Everyone was caught up in the first-day-of-school excitement, reconnecting with their friends after the first taste.

Her little trio settled in at the edge of the table closest to the kitchen. The least-desirable table, it would seem. And yet, oddly, that gave them a little bubble of peace and—relative—quiet. Choji began shoveling food into his mouth the second they were seated.

It was a sight Ino was used to by now. She waited for the initial rush to subside before commenting, "I can't believe you this enthusiastic about _school_ food too…"

"I'm just glad I have gym _before_ lunch…" he got out when he'd swallowed enough to answer. (She had noticed that his hair was suddenly wet and was suddenly thankful that at least _someone_ thought to make use of the locker room showers.) "I can't imagine having to sit through the rest of my classes without a chance to refuel!"

Ino and Shikamaru shared a smile, continuing to pick at their own lunches. Choji was lost in his own world for the moment, but she was aware of the glances Shikamaru had been throwing her way. He was a cynic, for sure. And there was very little he could be considered enthusiastic about. But she'd never doubted that he cared and knew he was still thinking about her little breakdown that morning.

"I'm just glad we finally all have a class together next period," she said, before realizing that this hardly sounded reassuring.

"Yeah, even if it_ is_ math," Shikamaru grumbled.

It was Choji's turn to pause and share a glance with her. Math. It was a subject none of them were fond of, but Shikamaru hardly had the right to complain. Choji actively struggled, the steps seemed to click for Ino just a little more slowly than was desired, but Shikamaru's woes stemmed entirely from his own laziness. He could see the connections needed to solve the equations but couldn't be bothered to show the work half the time. He was the bane of every teacher's patience. The kind of student who could have excelled in an honors-level class… if only he cared a bit more.

He frowned at their look. "What?"

His friends both laughed a little, dropping their gazes. Ino answered, "Well, at least I know I'll have a tutor when I need one."

He made another face, going back to his food. The tension dissolved, and as the lunch period wore on, she told them how her day had evened out. How she wasn't even dreading the rest of the afternoon. And she was relieved to see the boys dropping their guards as well. That they no longer felt the need to walk on eggshells around her.

"Yeah, that was wild, huh?" Choji commented lightly. "Who knew Sakura would decide to come back at the same time?"

"She seems to have moved on, though…" Ino murmured. She hoped so, at least. Some of her other ex-friends, on the other hand, didn't seem so inclined to forgive and forget. But they didn't need to hear about that just yet. She figured that jab in the locker room could be countered by Hinata's unexpected kindness. Forgive and forget indeed.

Math was… math. Ino was reserving judgment on Mr. Shiranui. He seemed relaxed in some ways… They were all allowed to choose their own seats, Ino and the boys forming a little triangle—the optimal positions for mid-class conversation. But she got the feeling he had eyes like a hawk too. Along with the syllabus, they each received a schedule with the lessons they'd be going over for the rest of the year, planned out to the day, with very little room for modification. But he also spent their first day's class period on a sort of reconnaissance, asking for input on the subjects ahead of them, wanting to know how comfortable they were with them currently.

It showed a level of investment in their education that she had to appreciate. It may have been for a subject she wasn't at all fond of, but maybe that would be exactly what she needed.

By the time the period ended, the day was starting to wear on her. Albeit in a way that left her feeling numb rather than defeated. Perhaps the rise and fall of her emotions throughout the morning had something to do with it… but it was mostly just the information overload. One too many classes asking her to ponder the future.

Her second-to-last class of the day brought Ino back down to the ground floor. Health—one of the last freshman requirements. Ino had always found the subject a bit dry (it had to say something that puberty was the highlight of the curriculum) and was already looking forward to having a second free period next year.

She felt almost like she woke up again as the crowd narrowed down to just the students entering this little corner classroom. The flash of pink hair was unmistakable. That made three classes she shared with Sakura. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised. She'd be seeing a long of familiar faces in this room.

Sakura took the rightmost desk in the front row, by the windows. Koharu was already seated at the opposite end of that row, her notebooks and pens already lined up on the desk before her. She was staring resolutely forward, and Ino couldn't help thinking she looked a bit stiff. But she didn't have time to linger on this. The doorway spit them out into the middle of the room, at the fourth row of desks. Ino slid into one near the door, all too happy to stay out of their line of sight.

Except…

She was only seated for a few seconds before peals of very familiar laughter reached her ears. She recognized Yuna's laugh instantly and pinpointed her location to the back right corner of the room. She felt surrounded all of a sudden, and it made the back of her neck tingle. Slowly, not wanting to draw attention to her movements, Ino let down her ponytail so that her hair at least covered her neck and ears. The flimsiest sort of armor—like making sure the blanket covered your toes in the darkness of your bedroom at night.

She tried to focus on something else—anything else; jeez, when had her heart started beating so fast?—and zeroed in on the next sound to reach her ears. More laughter. But in a decidedly different tone. It was more like a snicker, really.

She let her eyes sweep over to the back left corner of the room (when had Shino sat down beside her?) until they fell on Naruto Uzumaki. He was clearly up to some form of mischief—surprise, surprise—laughing at something. Seated right in front of him, cheeks tinged with a blush she'd never seen from him before, was Sasuke. She hadn't even noticed him there. He had an annoyed look on his face, refusing to turn around and acknowledge the boy he'd apparently become friends with during her absence.

But it didn't matter. Naruto had a much more receptive audience seated right beside him. Kiba was struggling even harder to contain his laughter. A grin almost tugged at Ino's lips. She was pretty confident she could recognize the signs of a teenage boy's crude joke. She cast her eyes around for the subject of their amusement… and finally caught sight of their teacher.

Yet another desk tucked into the very corner in dim lighting… (Ino had thought it was just a quirk of Mr. Hatake's, but apparently it was just how these rooms were designed.) But the nameplate was in clear lighting, reading _Miss Senju_. Ino's eyes caught on the tight skin of her face and hands, the barely suppressed wrinkles. The woman looked a little old to be calling herself 'Miss…' But she knew this wasn't what the boys were snickering over.

Miss Senju seemed to be asleep, her chin resting on her hand. And that wasn't the only thing propped up on her desk… Well. She may have suspected preventative measures had been taken to try and preserve her skin, but _those_ were definitely fake.

She tore her eyes away from the sight, now understanding Sasuke's expression completely. She took a breath, her nerves settling a little. She recognized a few more of her classmates—Hinata had slipped into the seat behind Sakura, and that red-haired boy from gym had also claimed a spot in the back row—but unfortunately, neither of her friends were among them. The class was just about full… when Ami strolled through the door.

She held her head high, eyes scanning the entire room in one smooth motion. Weighing her options—as if there were not only a handful of open desks left—Ami finally claimed a spot in the third row, at a diagonal from Hinata.

And that made four. Ino had never felt more fenced in. Behind her, Yuna's giggles petered out. In front of her, she could see—even from this here—Koharu's hand grip the corner of her desk a little tighter. They were all together again. In one of the smallest classrooms the school had to offer.

Ino dropped her eyes… but they immediately sought out the scars lining her arm again. She squeezed her eyes shut… And the tide of memories washed over her once more.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto. (Even my 3 OCs are very lightly based on characters from other things—their foundations anyway.) **

**We're gonna flashback like no tomorrow next chapter. And maybe even finally finish up this first day. Maybe. No promises.**


	6. Ghosts from the Past

**All of my reviews thus far have been anonymous, so I suppose I have no way of knowing for sure if you 'Guests' have all been the same person… but thank you for such a kind review on the last chapter, **Guest**! I'm glad you've been enjoying it so far! This chapter is pretty flashback-heavy, so at least one of your questions will be answered. **

**Chapter Six: Ghosts from the Past**

Yuna had been first.

Day one of kindergarten, set loose for recess, Ino had been immediately drawn to her. Her giggles had floated over the entire playground, catching her attention at once. The other girl—so petite even then—had somehow managed to get up on top of the monkey bars, crawling over them fearlessly. Already, teachers were running over, shouting reprimands.

Ino stayed where she was, but a wide smile crept over her face. She knew who she'd be sitting next to when they went back inside.

**…**

She jumped just a little too harshly when she saw Ino standing just around the corner, eyes wide. Ino only looked at her for a second, glare moving to encompass the two whispering girls Yuna had just left behind.

"What was that all about?" she asked, failing to keep the edge from her tone.

Yuna was equally unsuccessful in her attempt to look innocent. "What do you mean? We were just talking about something that happened to Momo over the weekend. It was her little sister's birthday party and…"

Ino had already turned away when Yuna trailed off. The drama had been heating up in their little group, and Ino had been hearing more and more specific details from the mouths of people who shouldn't have had access to them. She'd already had her suspicions about who their leaky faucet was… But she still didn't want to see the guilty look on her oldest friend's face.

So she walked away.

**…**

Ami had come next.

Stuck in their third grade math lesson with a teacher who'd grown tired of Ino and Yuna's constant chatter just a month in. So when they'd split up to quiz each other on their multiplication tables, she'd personally assigned the pairs and sent the two to opposite ends of the room.

Ino had certainly glanced over more than once. Her own partner kept trying to change the question the second she gave the answer, and she grew tired of that game _real_ fast. It wasn't at all strange to see Yuna giggling with someone else. That girl got along with everyone. It was one of the qualities Ino loved about her best friend.

But Ino was the only one who'd stuck. Until Ami.

They'd been playing soccer in gym. Yuna and Ino had already established their place as defenders—it allowed them to hang back and keep up a steady conversation while the offense did their job. And then run around like chickens with their heads cut off whenever the ball did come their way.

It was generally a pretty good time. And no one could claim they _weren't_ playing the game. (Who were the teachers to say how much skill they had, genuinely?) But today, Ami volunteered to be their goalie—the job no one ever wanted.

It allowed the three of them to talk and laugh as a group—they even managed to successfully guard the goal a few times. And Ino had never thought there was anything missing with just Yuna and herself. But now, with three of them, things just felt… right.

**…**

Ami had been the mastermind. Truly. She wasn't just saying that to try and shift the blame. She was pretty sure that to Yuna, it had just been another game. Ino herself had been blinded by first heartbreak, then betrayal. And apparently Koharu had been carefully calculating her risk versus reward benefits, on guard for the right moment to jump ship. But Ami had been the one whispering new ideas in her ear any time Sakura seemed to be building up a resistance to their previous tactic.

Nearly all of the prolonged schemes had come from Ami's mind. _You had to keep your enemy on their toes, _she'd said. _That way, they were already unbalanced when you needed to deliver the finishing blow. _

It had sounded so reasonable at the time. A lot of awful things had made perfect sense back then.

And so they'd come to sneak out to Sakura's house each and every night for close to three weeks. It had actually been a bit of a game during the day—collecting the perfect little stones as they walked around the playground… In the daylight, it looked almost… innocent.

Then they'd lurk around her darkened yard until the house was quiet and start tossing stones at irregular intervals at Sakura's window. Just forcefully enough to disturb her sleep, but not so hard that it also woke her parents on the other side of the house.

That first night, Sakura had opened the window to look out after the second stone, but Ino and her friends had been carefully hidden away in the shadows.

As the days went on, Sakura had begun to look more and more haggard, dragging herself through each day. Koharu had suggested the four of them begin setting shifts so they would not lose quite so much sleep themselves. At one point, Sakura had been worn so thin that after being chewed out by their teacher for being caught half-dozing in class, she'd burst into tears. If the rest of the class had been passive observers before, they joined in the mocking now.

_Serves her right_, had been Ino's only thought on the matter.

The night this particular tactic came to and end was a Saturday. She remembered this clearly, because the group still went out as one on the weekends. It had been a calm night—no hint of a breeze, but Ino had been distinctly unsettled. That now-familiar anger had been almost physically present. She could _feel_ it bubbling just beneath her skin.

But her friends seemed to be having a great time. Like there was something in the air that Ino had built up a resistance to. She didn't think Ami and Yuna had stopped giggling since they'd all met up. Even Koharu had looked looser somehow.

Her irritability became clear in a matter of seconds. This was a _mission_, not a game. Did no one else care about getting justice? Their backstabbing ex-friend needed to suffer the way Ino was suffering.

So while they were all goofing off, distracted, Ino grabbed a rock just lying in the grass. It was weighty in her hand, and she noticed some jagged edges as she gripped it with all her might. None of her friends were even looking as she hurled this rock with all her strength. She'd lost track of the number of smaller stones she'd thrown by now. Her muscles knew the angle better than her brain did.

The other three all whirled her way at the sound of shattering glass. For a moment, time seemed to freeze. At last, lights began to snap on in the house, but Ino remained where she was, arm still outstretched, glare burning in place, breathing heavily—more from rage than true exertion.

Yuna and Ami took off immediately, the chance of getting caught flipping a switch in their minds. As much as she hated to admit it, her traitorous memory did insist that it was Koharu who'd ultimately dragged her away.

**…**

Koharu had arrived the year after Ami. Ino couldn't even recall a specific event that had led to this. It was like one day, she was just _there_.

She'd always been a part of their school life; she just ran with a different crowd. Ino would have assumed she was just another new friend drawn in by Yuna's aura… Except for once, her oldest friend seemed to be keeping her distance.

As the months passed and they all spent more time together, Yuna seemed to thaw out. It was only during one of their many sleepovers that she finally addressed this.

They'd been spread out over the floor in the den, sleeping bags abandoned in favor of the nest of blankets and sheets they'd thrown together earlier. The two were settled in for the night but still at least an hour away from sleep. Ino had been reflecting on how much older Yuna looked with her hair freed from their usual pigtails. Indeed, her thoughts had clearly gravitated away from their usual carefree patterns.

"You know…" she said after they'd been quiet for a while. "I'm glad you and Koharu are getting along now. In your own way…"

Ino chuckled a little. It was true—they did appear to argue an awful lot for friends. But Ino enjoyed their little debates. She liked that Koharu wasn't ever afraid to speak her mind. It was one of the girl's best traits.

"Yeah. She's cool. I was just surprised she wanted to spend time with us."

Yuna was quiet for another minute, but Ino could see the way her lips were pursed even in the darkness. She knew that look. Her friend was debating whether she wanted to keep a certain piece of information to herself. And that was a battle she'd never won.

"It's just… In the beginning, I heard her telling Ami that she always thought you were kind of uppity."

Ino rolled over a little more so she could face her friend fully. "And that's why you've been so cold?"

Yuna's expression twisted into something uncharacteristically firm. "You're my best friend. I couldn't just let that slide."

The warmth of her loyalty spread through Ino like a brush fire. In a sudden motion, she pushed herself up and fell back down on her friend in a tight hug. Yuna squeaked in surprise, but then they both dissolved into giggles until Yuna's dad came down and asked that they quiet down for the night.

**…**

The first time Ino visited Sakura's house, she was honestly kind of in awe. Konoha was a pretty woodsy place in general, but the Harunos' house—just a step above being a cottage—was right at the edge. Ino had lived in Konoha her whole life, but in the center of town. The tree line backed up practically right to her window.

"This is so cool!" she gushed, leaning out the window, trying to see if she could touch the leaves from here. "Your house looks like it's straight out of a storybook! You can't even _see_ your closest neighbors once you get down the driveway."

Sakura had remained on her bed across the room. Her returning smile was measured. "Yeah, that's what my dad said… The land was so open where we used to live. There were a lot of farms. It's kinda… creepy here."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark!" Ino exclaimed with a laugh.

Sakura had blushed and looked away. "No! Just… Just the woods."

**…**

Those words had stuck with her, and she forced herself out of her own mind before _that_ train of thought could continue. She felt like she'd been slammed down back into her body… Her knuckles hurt from how tightly she'd been gripping the edges of her desk.

She noticed Shino staring at that tension (his glasses seemed to constantly have that sunglasses tint to them, even indoors) and undid her hold with a deep breath, placing her hands in her lap. And finally, Ino raised her head.

If this was a movie, she would have seen each of her friends' younger selves standing beside each of their desks. But all she saw was a regular classroom. All the other girls looked a little garish at the moment, but perhaps it was just the harsh school lighting.

The class as a whole was growing restless. The bell had rung a full five minutes earlier, and their teacher still appeared to be sleeping. Ino could all too easily picture Koharu's disapproving frown, Ami's smirk, but she was resolutely not looking at either of them.

All of a sudden, Miss Senju straightened up with a sigh. She was on her feet so quickly that Ino had to wonder if perhaps she'd never been sleeping at all. Maybe it was some crafty ploy to feel out her new class…

"Ugh… What period is this?" Well. The grogginess in her voice made Ino second guess this possibility. The thin line of drool she wiped away from her chin pretty much sealed its fate.

For a second, there was silence. No one seemed to know how to react. On the other hand, it was no surprise to anyone when Koharu was the one to answer stiffly, "It's sixth period."

"Ah. Freshman health. Again." Their instructor didn't seem any more enthusiastic than they were. She stuck one hand on her hip, moving her reading glasses up to rest atop her head. "Well. You all know why you're here. This is a mandatory course. I don't expect any of you to be _excited_ about it. Just do the work and get it over with the first time around, all right? Makes things easier on everyone…"

Her crass demeanor kept them all pretty tame as she went back to dig through her desk for their stack of syllabi. Ino could clearly hear her mutter, "Though god knows you all _should_ care… What with all those raging hormones at this age… You'll certainly get more out of _these_ lessons than so much of the other crap they're trying to stuff you full of all day…"

Ino tried to keep the grimace from her face. This was already uncomfortable. She could hear Yuna's giggling starting up again behind her. She could see the blush on Hinata's face. And they hadn't even gotten to any of the anatomy lessons yet.

But even this woman couldn't quite manage to spice up homework expectations. By the time the bell rang to send them along to their final class, they'd all settled into that now-familiar, first-day lull.

Ino managed to slip out the door before any of her past acquaintances, but this time, it didn't feel like she was running away. She was genuinely excited for her last class. What with all the mandatory courses in year one, freshmen only had a single free period to spend however they wished. She knew Shikamaru had left it free—he'd be leaving his study hall right now. Choji had attended his first Health and Nutrition class that morning. Which had definitely sounded like the dullest option available to Ino, but she knew it was a prerequisite to the baking classes available in later years.

Ino headed back up to a corner classroom on the second floor. It faced an empty computer lab beside the staircase and felt a little cut off from the rest of the school. But that was fine with her.

This was one class with very few familiar faces. She saw that red-haired boy again, (she still hadn't caught his name—had Miss Senju even taken attendance?) and he took another seat near the back. This distance was more noticeable here—it was a much smaller class than her others. There were only about 12 of them, and most of them were older students. Apparently it wasn't a very popular choice amongst freshmen.

"Welcome to General Psychology One." Their teacher addressed the class nearly the second the bell had rung. "You may call me Miss Yuhi."

It stuck Ino that most of her teachers seemed to be around the same age—early to mid-30s. Miss Senju was the obvious exception, but the rest of them had probably all been classmates here themselves in their time. She'd noticed that about Konoha—no one ever seemed to leave. She couldn't go anywhere with her parents without running into a dozen people they'd known since forever. It only made people like Koharu even more motivated to get out past the boundaries of this town.

Miss Yuhi held herself with a certain confidence and grace that Ino had to envy. Her hair was long and curly and looked like it probably _should_ have been a mess. But it hung around her almost elegantly. Her eyes were this piercing shade of brown that looked almost red. Ino almost had to wonder if she was reading mystical qualities into ordinary sights in light of her expectations for this class.

"As I'm sure many of you already know, there aren't many psychology courses available at the high school level. I teach all of them, in fact, and one at the local community college on Tuesday nights. This class is prerequisite to all the other classes here. In General Psych, we'll cover the basics of psychology as a science and touch on each of the different branches."

About what she'd expected, but it didn't dull her excitement any. Ino looked down and was a little surprised to see that she already had her notebook open on the desk before her.

"But there will be time for all that later," their teacher said, shaking off the sudden pessimism with a wave of her hand. "For now, let's go around the room and do some introductions. Some of you are probably a little sick of this by now, but you'll notice we're a pretty small group. I like to run a laid-back classroom. I expect we'll all get to know each other pretty well by the end of the year. So why don't we start with your names and what drew you to psychology?"

For the first time, Ino felt no dread. Maybe the idea of a cliché little pseudo-family class was a bit cheesy, but for now, Ino wanted to hold on to that. It had been so long since she'd been truly optimistic for anything. And she had yet to see anyone with an attitude to break this vision.

A trio of juniors were grouped together on the other side of the room where the introductions started. The first two came right out and admitted that they were just looking for a class they were both interested in that they could sign up for together. The third friend expressed a love for a popular crime drama that focused on serial killers. Not typically the sort of motivations one wanted to share with the teacher on day one, but Miss Yuhi showed now judgment. A sophomore in the next row expressed a desire—already—to go into counselling when he got out of college, specifically to work with those affected by mental illness. This seemed to open the door for the next girl to share that her grandmother had committed suicide, and she was planning to study depression.

The red-haired boy in the back introduced himself as Gaara before proceeding to fiddle with his pencils for a few seconds. It was clear that there was something else he wanted to say… Likely something he wasn't sure _how_ to say. But no one rushed him. And he ultimately continued with, "I'm here because… my older brother and sister… really pushed me to fill up my schedule. And…" He finally rose his eyes to meet their teacher's. "I've always had a hard time understanding people. I'd like to get better at that. I thought studying psychology might help."

His words sent a little thrill through Ino. It just felt terribly fitting. It gave her that extra burst of courage to follow up her own introduction with, "That's basically why I'm here too. To better understand people. Why people do things…" She was totally fumbling this. But the other showed her the same level of patience.

She took a deep breath, every inch of her skin tingling as she revealed, "I want to better understand _myself_, actually… I… didn't used to be a very nice person. I bullied one friend and lost all my others in the process. It's just… looking back now, I can hardly make sense of _my own _justifications…"

She finally deemed that the end. Her palms were slick. She'd angled her face down towards her desk again at some point during this confession. But when she tentatively glanced up and looked around the room again, she still didn't see any judgment. A few were eyeing her with renewed interest, but there was no revulsion. No one was trying to put more distance between them.

Her shoulders had just begun to relax as she turned back to Miss Yuhi, who was also nodding thoughtfully but neutrally. "We'll definitely be covering things like peer pressure and the bystander effect later in the year."

Ino smiled weakly and glanced down again. She felt this nudging urge to clarify… make it clear to all that _she_ had been the ringleader pressuring her peers. But her burst of courage had already faded, and she kept her mouth shut tight.

Miss Yuhi was, thankfully, already moving on. "All right, now that we've all gotten to know each other a little better… How about we all come together a bit more? I know it's ingrained in all of you that the seats in the back are some precious commodity… but it looks a little strange for a class this small to be this spread out."

She gestured them all forward, and perhaps her attempt at drawing them closer emotionally really had worked, because Ino didn't see much reluctance in anyone's expression. Ino herself stayed put. She'd chosen a seat near the front of the class as it was.

She waited as the others shifted forward. Her own attention had been captured by the syllabus Miss Yuhi had begun passing out. She was just about to flip the page to check out the schedule… when she felt someone settle into the desk beside hers.

Ino's head snapped up on instinct, her shoulders tensing a bit. But when she glanced over, it was just the red-haired boy. Gaara. She started to relax a little. His gaze was also angled downwards and had been every time she'd seen him that day. It was ironic. Once upon a time she would have been unnerved by people like him—the quiet, withdrawn ones. But now, it made him seem… safe almost. She doubted he was planning to mess with her.

After a moment of somewhat tense silence, Gaara finally raised his head and glanced her way. As soon as he knew she was watching, he sent her a small smile.

It may not have been terribly reassuring to someone else. But Ino had to admit, her standards were pretty low these days. It was small, but it was something.

It was a start.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Well. We're not quite at the end of this first day. But it will definitely be the next episode! That much I **_**can**_** promise. But there's still one more chapter to part one. For anyone who's been looking at the tags, there's still one more important character to be introduced.**


	7. Sai

**I've been so excited for this chapter. It's a little lighter. Just a little… I already feel like Ino's been this dark, angsty mess for too long… but then I have to remind myself that in the story's time, it's literally been a single day. I just hope no one else is getting sick of it yet.**

**Chapter Seven: Sai**

Ino's steps were slow as she left her last class of the day. She'd let her classmates surge out ahead of her, and the hallways were taken over by the general frenzy now. Despite a long day of introductions, it was here that Ino really felt the first-day-ness of it all, the school waking up after a long break. She knew the freshman hallway was sure to be the most frazzled.

Ino was all too happy to let the rush pass her by. She was in no hurry herself. Shikamaru's mom wanted him back with a full report as early as possible—something about not becoming a target for bad influences. And Choji's family was going out to celebrate his grandmother's birthday. But Ino had no plans. In fact, perhaps her mother would think she'd made some new friends if she didn't come straight home. (Of course, she might also worry that some other disaster had come up already, but Ino tried not to linger on that.)

She wasn't sure why the desire to be alone in the school—or as close to it as possible—had suddenly taken over at the sound of that final bell. She'd done it once before the school year had started, but that had been primarily reconnaissance—locating her classrooms. This was more… settling in. Claiming the place as her own now that she was a little more familiar with it.

The hallway was nearly empty by the time she slung her bag over one shoulder and shut her locker. Empty enough for her footsteps to echo as she made her way back down to the first floor.

It hadn't been a bad day, as far as first days went. Maybe a little tedious in places, but that was just fine. She wasn't optimistic enough to think her past would release its hold on her completely, but her reappearance hadn't made quite the splash she'd been dreading.

She glanced in at the clock on the wall as she passed by the cafeteria. It was already three, and the school was coming back to life. The classes may have just been waking up, but most of the clubs and sports teams were already at full speed. She knew, from recruitment flyers she'd seen around the school throughout the day, that the cross country and volleyball teams were both holding tryouts today, and the soccer teams were already jumping into their first practices, having completed their selections over the break.

Ino had no plans to join anything. She supposed, with all the running she'd been doing, she'd stand a pretty good chance of making a track or cross country team—even just at a JV level… But she didn't like the idea of the sort of hierarchy those settings offered. At least in her classes, everyone was on equal footing. Once upon a time, the lure of seniority one day would have seemed exciting—worth any potential hazings. These days, she couldn't willingly put herself in a position that gave other teens that sort of built-in power over her. And she no longer trusted _herself_ with that sort of power over others.

She pushed forward, with no real end goal in mind. She was simply retracing her steps. But a flash of bright pink made her dart out of sight when she got back around to the health classroom.

Ino pressed herself up against the hard wall, heart beating a little faster, but the conversation inside didn't falter at all. She stayed put a little longer—long enough to hear a much more alert-sounding Miss Senju finish detailing out the contents of the first-aid kit she was showcasing.

"I'm not surprised it's just you," she said afterwards, breaking from her rehearsed, academic spiel. "The CPR courses later in the year usually fill up, but no one's interested in the basic first aid."

"I want to learn everything I can," Sakura replied with an enthusiasm that surprised her. Any steeliness she'd seen earlier had clearly softened out in these settings. "I know there's not much for nursing at the high school level, but it can't hurt to get a head start."

Ino pushed away from the wall at that. She had to get out of here. It was just too much. It had already been clear—just from a glance earlier—that Sakura was infinitely stronger than she'd once been. Of _course_ she was just inherently good, too. She probably had some noble aspirations to be a doctor, to show people the kindness that she had not been.

_Your fault_, that little voice whispered in the back of Ino's mind for the thousandth time. If she had been a better person, this evidence of Sakura's recovery would have been reassuring. As it was, she couldn't help feeling defeated. Here was the real difference separating the two of the them. Perhaps there was just some ingrained impurity in her soul. If Ino had been a better person, perhaps she would have bounced back from her hardships too.

**…**

"I just think it's kinda sad, you know? That he's always alone." Sakura was perched on Ino's bed, hugging one of the smaller, decorative pillows to her midsection. She had that same, hesitant smile on her face that she got whenever she spoke up about something. It was a look Ino had already grown very familiar with.

"Yeah, but that's part of what makes him so cool. Mysterious…" Ino answered with a giggle. She was slumped down in a bean bag chair across the room. Her notebook had long since been traded in for the magazine she was flipping through. "Anyway, it's just cause he's on a whole other level from the rest of the boys in our grade. No one can stand on the same stage as Sasuke!"

It was getting late. Sakura was staying over on the pretext of working on a science project… that really looked more like an art project—a big poster board decorated with glitter glue, strips of felt, some printed-out picture, and a few information blurbs, written in very carefully with thin-tipped markers. And it was done. Mostly. But they could put the finishing touches on in the morning. For now, they'd changed into their pajamas and settled in for the night's gossip session.

Although, she had to admit, this one had a very different feel to it than what Ino was used to with her other friends. Sakura wasn't one for rude rumors, and Ino liked that. Not that the usual discussions weren't fun—when they were all together, they often debated which once they thought were true, presenting 'evidence' like some sort of court trial. But Sakura had never been interested in that. With her, it was less about _what_ someone had done and more _why_ they'd done it. It was a refreshing way to look at things. It made Ino consider that even the most detestable of her peers might have some redeeming qualities. That goodness could exist in everyone—even if only in small amounts.

**…**

Ino's escape had brought her to the corner of the building, staring out the window of a back exit door. A concrete staircase led down to a sidewalk and crosswalk, ultimately spitting you out in the lower school's parking lot. She took in all the little details now; her eyes had glazed over as she'd been sucked back down into her memories.

She wondered if those qualities were yet another part of Sakura damaged by her jealousy and entitlement. Did the other girl still have the ability to see good in everyone? Was there anyone she still trusted completely?

Her frown deepened as she leaned back. The angle of the light shifted with her, revealing her reflection in that little pane of glass. Her hair had been left down since her fruitless attempt to seem inconspicuous while surrounded by her past friends. It seemed lank as it hung about her face now, more than a few locks out of place. She didn't move to fix it, turning and heading back the way she'd come.

She hadn't taken notice of the art room when she passed it the first time, but now it looked impossible to miss. It was the size of two full classrooms and had a door on either end. She paused in the threshold of the second one, leaning in to take a better look around.

Counters lined every wall but the one at the front with the dual whiteboard/chalkboard. Tall cabinets for storing projects and supplies had also been built in to the wall closest to her and the back wall. The desks were the same two-person lab tables she'd seen in the science classrooms, but they didn't make this space seem quite so crowded. But most eye-catching was the wall directly opposite. She could see a little concrete balcony outside floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors.

She didn't see the boy in this first glance. The movement as he drew his arm back startled her a little. She focused in then on the easel set up before those big windows and the boy seated before it.

His dark hair only made his skin seem even paler. His equally dark eyes never strayed from the painting before him—she couldn't tell if he knew she was there. He looked… young. That felt like an odd description, as she knew they must be around the same age, but he just seemed… small. Much in the same way she'd thought Gaara looked small, when she'd first seen him across the gym.

Ino wasn't sure what made her take another step into the room. Curiosity about the painting, this whole scene perhaps? _Something_ drew her closer. That second step turned into a third and then a fourth. The boy's eyes darted up to her just for a second before refocusing on the painting coming together in front of him. For perhaps the first time all day, Ino wasn't intimidated by this attention. She didn't stop until she was a few feet behind him. Close enough to get a good view of his work, but not so close that she would distract him, hovering over his shoulder.

It was a simple landscape—a recreation of the parking lot scene just past the balcony before them. But there was something almost surreal about it. There was so much blue—in the ground as well as the sky. Perhaps it was just an early stage—awaiting the details that would make it identical to the real thing—but she couldn't tear her eyes away.

…Until another door along the front wall that she hadn't even noticed slammed open behind her. Ino jumped again, but the boy's muscles went rigid, to avoid messing up his painting. His expression gave nothing away.

But Ino had stopped watching him, turning to look at the two boys who'd appeared from the little back room. The one with the bright red hair would have normally been more noticeable, but Ino found her eyes drawn to the blond. It was the strangest coincidence. His hair was eerily similar to the way she'd styled her own when it had been long. She had to take a second look to confirm that it was, in fact, a boy.

In any case, the two didn't pay the younger students any mind. Their argument—about something artsy; Ino couldn't quite make sense of it—didn't halt for a second as they swept past and out of the room.

"So loud," the boy murmured when they were gone, unfreezing.

"What's back there?" Ino asked, glancing at the room behind them. The door had been left ajar, but it was too dark to see into.

"A kiln," he answered in that same dull tone. She struggled to read it. Was he annoyed that she hadn't gone to investigate for herself? Or just disinterested?

They were silent for another few seconds before she spoke up again. "You're really good."

He glanced back at her again and paused just long enough to make it a little awkward, as if waiting for a punchline. But he must have decided she was being genuine, because he resumed his work with a simple, "Thank you."

Well. Ino let out a slow breath, conscious not to make any sound so it didn't come out like a huffy sigh. This was fine. This boy didn't make for the _best_ company, but it wasn't unbearably uncomfortable or anything. All she really cared about right now was not running into Sakura for the third time today. She would give the first aid lesson a little more time. (How much could Miss Senju really be planning to cover on the first day with only one pupil?) She could hang out here until then.

Ino pulled a chair over, trying not to be loud and obnoxious about that either. The boy's expression was still pretty blank, but she supposed that was better than annoyed. "I'm Ino."

"Sai," he answered, more readily this time.

"Do you paint a lot?" she asked.

"Yes. I sketch out my ideas sometimes, but I prefer to create my thoughts directly into the medium in which I envision them." Now they were getting somewhere.

"That's really cool," she said, hoping he could tell now that she meant it. "I've never been good at anything like art or music. My mom would always say I didn't have the discipline."

Sai was blending two colors on his palette now. He made an odd humming noise that she supposed was thoughtful. "I believe my mother thinks I'm _too_ disciplined. She's always scolding me for using art to avoid making friends."

Ino's hands folded together in her lap. It had become a familiar anxious habit—twisting her fingers around each other—as of late, but her first impulse was to smile, if a bit ruefully. "I don't think she has anything to worry about. Beautiful things—like your art—will draw people to you. Besides, friendship isn't the sort of thing that can be forced. It doesn't go well when you do."

He made another humming noise, glancing back again. She noticed his eyes never quite met hers. They seemed to sweep over her head and settle briefly by her shoulder before he turned back around. She would almost think the problem was with this eyesight… except she doubted he could paint so masterfully if he was struggling to see.

Ino didn't say much more. She just watched Sai paint and let time pass. The parking lot scene continued to take shape before her eyes, although it retained some of that almost-mystical quality she'd first taken note of in its colors. Ino finally got up from her seat as he was dabbing on the true finishing touches.

"You're going?" There was just enough inflection to make it sound like a question.

"Yeah. If I'm out too late, my parents will worry. You should probably get home soon too."

Sai made a noncommittal sound.

"Do you think you'll stay after to paint a lot?"

He didn't even have to think about it. "Whenever I'm able. There are a lot of supplies here I don't have at home."

"Great. Maybe I'll stop by again sometime." She was half-joking. They had made for a bit of an awkward pair, thrown together by her own shameful circumstances.

But Sai's response was surprisingly warm. "I'd like that."

Ino paused again in the doorway as she made her exit, looking back at this strange boy. He was the first person she'd willingly approached all day. Something about Sai was just very non-threatening. She wasn't worried that he may have heard some unsavory things about her. She felt a little like her old self again—the Ino who wouldn't have thought twice about going up to a stranger and telling them exactly what she thought about them, good or bad.

This hadn't exactly been something to strive for lately. Not for what felt like a lifetime. But now, perhaps for the first time since she'd woken up to the glint of those scissors, she felt like maybe her old self wasn't the absolute worst thing to be.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**And finally, part one is complete. It's been the longest first day indeed… **


	8. Coping

**We've made it to part two. This first chapter is a little shorter, starting things off. And I'd say it's lighter… but I feel like I really dived back into looking at her depression for a while there in the middle, so I'll let you decide.**

**Part Two: A New Day**

**Chapter Eight: Coping**

Ino didn't feel half the dread she'd been expecting upon returning home. She knew her mother would be awaiting a detailed report—she'd passed the flower shop on her way home and found it closed early—but her afternoon with Sai had done wonders for the ever-present buzz of anxiety that she'd grown used to. She would have to consider the offer to join him on a regular basis more seriously.

However, the smile she'd set into place faltered in surprise when she walked through the door to find Shikamaru leaning back against her kitchen counter. He spotted her a second later—and seemed a bit relieved, she thought—but not before she heard both of their fathers' voices coming from the next room.

The two teens stood a little straighter and opened their mouths at the same time… but neither managed to get a word out before Ino's mother strolled into the room. Her shoulders also appeared to relax a bit when she saw her daughter.

"Oh, there you are." Shikamaru moved so she could take a look at whatever was bubbling on the stove. "How was your first day?"

Her voice was a little measured, and Ino was suddenly grateful for the Nara family's intrusion. The Naras, Akimichis, and Yamanakas were practically one big extended family, for all their history and time spent together, but a surprise visit could still send her mother into entertainer mode—at least for the first hour or so.

"It was good to be back," she answered and found that it didn't feel too much like a lie. "A lot of my teachers are pretty interesting. And Choji and Shikamaru and I all have math together, so that's cool."

"That's great," her mother answered, glancing over with a smile that also felt genuine. If she'd been hoping for more, Ino didn't hear it.

"So long as you all don't distract each other," came another voice from the doorway, the warning clear in that tone.

"Yeah, yeah…" Shikamaru muttered, grimacing when his mother shot him a sharp look.

"Dinner should be ready in another 30 minutes or so," Mrs. Yamanaka cut in, the interjection effortlessly smooth.

"I'll go put my stuff away," Ino answered. Shikamaru didn't need an invitation to follow her up the stairs to her room. It was a funny reflection—how different her mom's nonexistent reaction would have been if this had been just about any other boy. They were nearly to the second floor when she murmured back to him, "You didn't have to do this."

"It's not like I had to push too hard to convince anyone," he answered. "You know Choji would be here too if they didn't already have plans."

"Yeah, I know," she said, smiling as she dumped her bag onto her bed.

"So where were you all afternoon?" he asked, a little too casually, hands tucked firmly into his pockets. But right now, his hovering made her smile too.

"I actually hung out in the art room for a while."

"The art room?" he repeated. "You?"

"Yeah. There was a boy painting there. I watched him for a while, and we talked."

"A boy?" His tone was just a little too on guard. She turned from where she'd been scrolling through her phone to shoot him a look. She could _see_ his prickly response recede back into his core a little and could tell she'd gotten the essence of her message across: _Relax. I'm not about to make the same mistakes twice._

"His name is Sai," she said aloud after a moment for emphasis. "He's a little odd, but it was relaxing. I'll probably join him again tomorrow."

For just a second, she considered telling him what had driven her to his company… but ultimately let the moment pass. There had been enough ominous dreariness today. They could continue to speculate about Sakura's mindset some other time. Besides, she could see Shikamaru thinking.

"Pale kid? Quiet and kinda awkward?" he asked at last.

Ino's eyebrows rose a few notches. "Uh, yeah, actually. Sounds about right. You know him?"

"He's in _our_ gym class," he answered in a tone that almost elicited another dark look. He must have sensed it coming, because he shrugged and added, "He was off by himself the whole time. You must've missed him."

"I guess so…" She thought she'd been pretty thorough when she was observing the scene, but then, Sai did seem like the type to specialize in fading into the background.

"Kids! Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Yamanaka's call came just a second later.

The teens shared a glance before heading back down. "When do you think we'll stop being 'kids' to them?"

"Too soon for my liking," Shikamaru answered.

Dinner was nice. The first-day-of-school interrogations were never as heavy as the late-year ones. There was no talk of their plans for the future yet. Just a bunch of old friends catching up. Even though they'd last gotten together less than a week earlier.

It certainly succeeded in settling her parents' worries. When the night's gathering came to an end and they were waving the Naras goodbye, Mrs. Yamanaka placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her voice was equally soft. "I'm glad today went well."

Ino smiled up at her, just a little rueful. "Yeah. Me too."

Her footsteps sounded especially loud when she climbed the stairs for the night. The heaviness of the day had caught up to her. She collapsed back onto her bed with a sigh. This had been day one, with many more to come. Somehow, she was just as apprehensive about day two.

Ino was just about to drift off… when she heard her phone ping. Her eyes snapped back open. She couldn't say she used her cell phone much these days. At ten years old, she'd begged her parents for one of her own. By the time she was twelve, she'd begun cringing any time it went off. In those days, a message directed at her was never anything good…

But it was just Shikamaru.

_So… Turns out Sai's in our bio class too._ _Sits behind Choji_. And then, a second later: _Guess he's easier to miss than I thought. _

Ino felt herself smile. She could spot Shikamaru's version of an apology in these words. He wasn't usually one for meaningless small talk. He certainly wasn't a casual texter.

She sent him back something light, conveying her gratitude… which he didn't bother responding to. But it settled her lingering anxiety a bit. She got up just long enough to change into something more comfortable before drifting off for real this time.

**…**

She could hear her parents' tense murmuring out in the hallway. She knew they were worried about how long she'd been spending in bed lately, but she couldn't bring herself to be too bothered by this. As was the case with most things these days. Sometimes, it felt like she could _see_ all her different options branching out as paths in front of her. …But no matter which road she chose to follow, the day always ended with her feeling like she'd wasted her time.

Ino felt the first prickles of irritation as the conversation outside took a stressed turn, evolving into more of an argument. She buried her head a little deeper into her pillows.

Was it really such a big deal? It was summer vacation; it wasn't like she had anywhere to _be_.

But when the distraction of their voices faded off down the hall, she was only left with her own thoughts. And that was always worse.

Without an opponent to face, it had become second nature to turn on herself instead. Because she _did_ know her sleep habits were a problem. She just couldn't seem to motivate herself anymore. What was there to get out of bed _for_? But then… when she didn't… she always wound up feeling vaguely sick when she realized she'd spent literally the whole day in bed.

Ino sighed and shifted so she was staring up at the ceiling. She should get up. She didn't move.

The next time she heard footsteps on the stairs, there was something different about them. She identified two pairs of feet but knew her parents' treads well enough to tell it wasn't either of them. One was too heavy, the other not heavy enough—and a little too slow to be anyone who walked this path on a daily basis.

But Ino didn't have long to try and brainstorm who the visitors could be. The footsteps strode right up to her own door and didn't stop there. Without so much as a single knock, her bedroom door was flung open and light flooded in.

Rather than spring up and try to maintain some of her dignity, Ino froze under the covers. She blinked in surprise for a second before recognizing the two boys who'd charged into her cave.

Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. In a distant, second-cousin sort of way, she'd known these two her whole life. Their parents had been friends since _their_ childhood days. But, though the boys had become fast friends, Ino had never made a real effort to bond with them. She'd always thought they were losers, honestly. And yet… Even if it had been almost pure coincidence… These were the two who had come to her rescue when it all really went to hell. And it would seem they weren't done yet.

In another life, she would have been offended that they burst in here only to take the time to finish the conversation they'd been having before addressing her. When Shikamaru did speak, he sounded impatient. "Hey, Ino, don't you think you've been in bed long enough?"

She heard Choji chuckle as she finally forced herself into a sitting position. "Yeah, and if that's coming from _Shikamaru_, you know it's bad."

She ignored this. "What are you two doing here?"

She wanted to wince at how hoarse her voice sounded. Shikamaru sighed like this was all just a big hassle to him. "You're starting to scare your mom. Which means she's venting to _my_ mom, who's getting on my case about not being a better friend. So…"

"So we figured we'd come over and give you something to do," Choji finished for him. "We could go out and do something. That carnival's in town for another few days."

"Or if you want to mope, at least do it _actively_," Shikamaru picked back up. "Choji brought the ice cream."

She noticed for the first time that the shorter boy had plastic grocery bags hanging from each hand. Ino felt a lump building up in her throat. She felt like she was reduced to tears so easily these days… But for once, they were happy tears. No matter how put-upon Shikamaru tried to sound, she was touched by their kindness. And Choji's smile was almost… bubbly. She suspected Shikamaru would remember their rockier younger years for some time to come, but there were no grudges to be found from Choji.

Ino hoped her smile didn't appear too watery. "Did you remember to pack bowls in those bags?"

This elicited a full belly laugh from Choji, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Bowls? If we're doing this, we're doing it _right_."

This was how they ended up all three seated up against the headboard of her bed, a full pint of ice cream for each of them. It was oddly comfortable. And it would become her norm in the days to come. Like pieces in a puzzle she'd never realized she was a part of, the three of them fit together like this friendship was always meant to be.

**…**

The next morning, Ino's eyes opened with the sunrise. She'd taken to leaving her curtains open for this exact purpose.

As had also become her routine, she pushed herself up at once, leaving the warmth of her bed and trading her pajamas out for workout gear. Her sneakers had been left by the door, and the early autumn air was only a little brisk.

She began her jog down familiar streets, passing the flower shop along her route. A few of the other early risers in the neighborhood were already out and about too and waved as she passed. It was uplifting, preparing her for what was to come.

She would go home, have breakfast, and get ready for school. One step at a time, and each one felt doable.

It was a new day.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**As much as I seem to live and breathe angst, I'm the biggest sucker for cheesy, mushy friendships sometimes. I'm loving getting to play with the InoShikaCho dynamic throughout this story. **


	9. Cracks in the Foundation

**The writer side of me (so… basically, **_**all **_**of me) has split into two sides. I've got the one side shouting to get on with it and write in the bigger, more important flashbacks… and the other side scolding me not to rush things. I know we're very much stuck in Ino's head at this point, but a big part of this story is meant to be about her relationships with others—how they grow and change over time and what they teach her about herself… There are some things I don't see her being ready to address yet. But I'm excited to get to the points where she is.**

**Chapter Nine: Cracks in the Foundation**

There was a notable shift in the air that next morning. At first, Ino thought it was just her, but it was clear before long that the entire freshman class was a little more relaxed now that they had a full day under their belts. The hallways were a little louder, the students a little less concerned with paying attention to where they were going…

"Watch it," Shikamaru snapped at last, his voice rough, as someone knocked into him for the third time. (Ino was thankful to be positioned in between the two boys—she was only getting the secondhand jostling whenever someone bumped into one of them.)

She and Choji both glanced over at his tone, wondering if whoever was on the receiving end of it would use his rudeness as an excuse to escalate the situation… but it was only Naruto. The blond boy's stride hadn't faltered even a little; he just threw one of those wild grins over his shoulder as he kept moving. "Aw, lighten up, Shikamaru!"

Her friend just grumbled something incoherently in response. Ino had to smile at the strange dynamic. She'd now heard enough about this new friendship to know he'd given up any hope of reigning Naruto in. Shikamaru would move on. It was sort of refreshing, in a way… she still just found it a little hard to wrap her head around their friendship existing at all.

They were turning the corner for their lockers, but something made Ino glance back to follow their loud classmate's progress. She saw his jog slow as he caught up to who he must have been chasing after. She recognized that shock of dark hair and felt that jolt of surprise for another few seconds as she remembered that Naruto and Sasuke were friends now too.

She watched them right up until they turned the corner—saw Naruto greet the other boy with his usual exuberance, saw Sasuke duck his head and berate him for drawing so much attention to them. Ino found that she didn't even really need to know them to read their interaction. It was all very familiar. Like she was watching her own younger self running up to Koharu—shouting louder, all in good fun, precisely _because_ the other girl was getting embarrassed. It was a comparison that clashed with her understanding of Sasuke Uchiha as someone who was never ruffled by anything going on around him. It was too much to try and puzzle through just then, so she stowed it away for later.

Homeroom was shorter and also missing the excitement of the first day of school. She and Choji shared a look once they were seated. Asuma (already 'Mr. Sarutobi' was being replaced in their minds too) looked nearly as tired as Shikamaru. It felt like… school. Routine and a little monotonous. The haze of it had almost settled in completely by the time she took her seat in Freshman Lit.

She did her best not to look at Sakura. It wasn't such a shock to see her again today, but she wasn't pushing her luck. She'd glanced over just long enough to note that she and Hinata were seated together again. In a high school setting, that pretty much solidified their friendship. She was happy for them. And it was a little comforting to know that Hinata, at least, didn't hate her. It made her optimistic that lines weren't being drawn as concretely as they could be.

Once the bell rang and attendance had been taken, Mr. Hatake stood up from behind his desk, lifting up a cardboard box and plopping it down on the already-cluttered surface.

"Okay. So let's get right to it," he said with the tone of someone who had already put it off as long as he reasonably could. "I'm handing out the first book we'll be reading this semester."

He counted out enough books for each row and handed the stacks to the student seated at the first desk. They each took one and began passing them back. Ino heard the groans start up before the books were distributed to even half the room.

When Ino received hers, she saw a simple paperback with characters dressed in olde-timey stage costumes on the front cover. She was just passing the rest of the books behind her when she spotted the title: _Romeo and Juliet_.

"I can tell this one doesn't need much of an introduction," Mr. Hatake began when most of his students had received their copy. "Barring the possibility that any of you might move up to an honors level course within the next three years, you can expect to do one Shakespeare play per year. We like to start with the most well-known. Personally my least favorite, but we'll get to the story discussion later."

Thus began the discussion of Shakespeare. Ino couldn't say she was excited, exactly. Reading was fine. Romances were fine. But not ones she had to _translate_. After a brief background on the author, Mr. Hatake handed out a double-sided sheet of vocabulary. And this was just for the first act.

The groaning started up anew, but Mr. Hatake handled it with a grace made up of false cheer. He _had _told them he specialized in freshmen. She shuddered to think how many times he'd gone over this story with a new group of reluctant teens.

But… as he began to go over the list of olde English phrases and words whose meanings had shifted over time, Ino found her mind wandering back around to their teacher's strange appearance. How old _was_ Kakashi Hatake anyway? They could barely see any of his face, but he didn't sound any older than Asuma or Miss Yuhi. She dropped her eyes back down to the vocabulary sheet, suddenly worried it would be obvious she was staring. (She expected Mr. Hatake was used to staring by now, but that didn't make it okay.) His eyes may have been the only thing uncovered, but she had a feeling they didn't miss a thing.

Ino brought a finger up to trace her longest scar once more, still lost in thought. How did Mr. Hatake feel about his own scars, she wondered? Was it safe to assume they _were_, in fact, burns? She couldn't think of many casual, everyday routine sort of ways to get a face full of burns. Whatever the case was, she was sure those memories remained as clear in his mind as the memory of her own scars were in hers. His words were muffled but not garbled or slurred in a way that suggested he was too seriously disfigured. Did he think he was sparing them? (Surely, if they could get used to a face mask, they could get used to some burned skin.) Or was he sparing himself? Not wanting the physical reminder every time he passed a reflective surface?

Her thoughts flew ahead to her psychology class at the end of the day. Was it rude to try and puzzle out a person's deepest insecurities when they were right there across the room and basically a stranger? She tried to refocus on the task in front of her, glancing quickly around the room to see that many of her classmates looked equally faraway.

She swore she could almost hear an audible sigh of relief from them all when Mr. Hatake assigned the pages they were to read for the next class and the bell rang to end the period, freeing them all.

The break between classes passed smoothly. Her friends must have been let out early from their first class, because Choji and Shikamaru were already waiting for her at Choji's nearby locker by the time Ino left the room. The gym was far enough away that they only had a few minutes to talk before splitting up again, Shikamaru swapping out Choji for Ino.

"Get ready for the anatomy of the cell," he told her, sounding irritably bored. "What are we up to in Lit?"

She sent him back a humorless smile. "Romeo and Juliet."

Shikamaru's groan was perfectly satisfying, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling. Ino couldn't have expressed it better herself. And she couldn't dislodge the thought from her mind as she changed in the locker room, stretched in their class circle out on the gym floor, (spotting Sai now that she knew to look for them) and began jogging the lap around the gym that would precede their real class each day. Shikamaru had quickly fallen behind, leaving her without a single distraction.

Romeo and Juliet… The title alone filled her with dread. She already knew the basics of the play—who didn't? And she_ really_ didn't want to read a story about people doing stupid things for love.

**…**

She was on the mend. Really, she was. As much as she could be anyway.

Her cuts were leaving what she was sure would be permanent marks, but they'd at least healed enough that she was able to take the bandages off. Choji and Shikamaru had begun coming around daily, and if she didn't feel up to going out into town, she would spend time at one of their houses—anything to get out of her own for a little while. Those two… They were good guys. She felt bad for thinking so lowly of them before… One more thing to add to her seemingly endless storm of guilt.

But even saying that… Even living in her own head each day, that dark wave always looming in the background… Most days were good. She enjoyed her lazy afternoons with her new friends—they were no longer just distractions. The runs she'd begun going on in the mornings—originally enacted just to get her out of bed—were really growing on her. She'd never been an exercise nut, but she was starting to like the feeling of building up some muscle. She had even been able to start thinking about the future again—considering the upcoming school year—without shutting down completely. Ino was recovering.

She only wished she could say the same for her mother.

Her mom's sudden meekness was possibly the next unnerving thing of all. For as long as Ino had been alive, Mrs. Yamanaka had been a force to be reckoned with. A powerful woman who cast a long shadow and would leave men—usually her own husband—quivering in her wake. (She'd gotten a similar vibe from Yoshino Nara, who'd started coming around a lot more now that she and Shikamaru had become friends.) So it was painful to see her tiptoeing around her now, blatantly fearful of doing anything to worsen Ino's mental state. Mrs. Yamanaka had always had a tendency to bulldoze through her problems—much like her daughter herself.

Her hesitance now only added to Ino's guilt. They'd always clashed every now and then—as two strong personalities in one house tended to. She'd received so many disappointed lectures leading up to this… Was there nothing she could do right?

For some reason, it didn't feel quite as gut-wrenching when she worried the boys. Which wasn't to say she didn't appreciate their concern, of course! But it was nice, having someone she could just… be weak around. Be _real_ around. She wasn't sure she ever had that with her _first_ group of friends, the one she'd been so proud of.

She could tell they'd altered their lives pretty drastically to include her. It wouldn't have been odd for the two boys to laze away their summer, one comfortably quiet afternoon after another. And she tried to stress that they didn't have to go out of their way to entertain her. She tried to join them in their cloud-watching sessions, but any time she was silent for too long, they got… nervous.

"Hey, Ino," Shikamaru spoke up on one such occasion. "Have you given any thought to where you're going to school next year?"

Choji paused his munching to look over at her. "Your mom won't make you go back to Rosewood, will she?"

Ino shook her head, disoriented briefly by the short ends of her hair tickling the back of her neck. Though she saw it in the mirror every day, she still wasn't used to it. "No. She's really torn up about… everything. Besides, being a student in their lower schools doesn't guarantee you a spot in their high school. They held the entrance exams about a month ago. I didn't go, of course."

They both seemed to relax a little. "Good," Shikamaru said at last, and they moved on.

But Ino couldn't shake the question from her mind. Most of the summer was already gone. The deadline for that decision was fast approaching. So, that very night, she addressed that elephant herself.

"I've been thinking about school next year," she spoke up that night. Their little trio of a family was seated around the table. There had been a new focus on making sure they all had dinner together each night, but it was usually an uncomfortably quiet gathering. Both of her parents were worried, afraid of saying the wrong thing and breaking her back into tiny pieces. "And I've decided… that I want to go back to Konoha."

They had both stiffened at her first words, and there was utter silence when she was done. They had all stopped eating. Ino considered picking her utensils back up, trying to give this discussion a more casual air… but ultimately just placed her hands in her lap, waiting for one of them to react.

In the past, Inoichi would have let his wife take the lead. But their family dynamics had shifted recently. Her mother was staring back with barely-disguised horror. She really didn't need to say anything to make it perfectly clear how she felt about this idea. Her dad was the one to finally speak up. "There are always other options…"

Ino shook her head. Of course she knew there were other options… Even more expensive private academies that were even farther away… But she'd put enough of a burden on her parents already. And besides…

"I have to face this." She addressed her mother directly, knowing she was the one who really needed convincing. "I can't run away from this for the rest of my life. And besides, I have friends now. At least here in Konoha, Choji and Shikamaru will be with me."

After all, she'd already had one disastrous experience with being a new kid in a new town.

**…**

That had been enough to win over her dad. The boys really were hand-me-down friends. Inoichi was thrilled they got along as well as they did. She saw it in the gleam of pride that appeared in his eyes every time he saw the three of them together.

Her mother had been a longer project. But the rest of the summer passed, and Ino never backed down. And while her first day back had certainly been taxing… she was glad she hadn't.

When the stretches came to an end, the boys headed outside, Coach Gai in the lead with a bag of soccer balls thrown over his shoulder like some sort of garishly athletic Santa Claus. Ino didn't have much time to stare after her one friend's departure. Coach Mitarashi was already calling the girls together, setting up the volleyball nets.

It was only day one of real class, so they wouldn't be jumping right in just yet. Volleyball had been a staple of gym all throughout middle school. She could see most of the other girls getting antsy as well as Anko took the time to detail out the rules and team positions. But Coach Mitarashi could see it too—Ino figured she must be just as used to the routine of her lessons as Mr. Hatake was. Just when it seemed like she was about to lose their attention completely, she tipped over the container of volleyballs, sending them rolling across the floor and startling her pupils.

"All right, today we'll focus on serving!" Anko demonstrated both the underhand and overhand styles, telling them each to hone in on whichever method worked best for them… but they all knew that the latter was the _proper_ way to do it. Ino could feel the boredom quickly being replaced by a more competitive air.

Pretty soon the air was filled with volleyballs soaring in every direction. Coach Mitarashi urged them all to try and aim at specific sections of the court… but her shouts were all but drowned out by the sound of the balls bouncing off the gym floor. And some of her students were struggling to get their serves over the net at all.

This had never been a task Ino had particularly struggled with. Once they were playing on actual teams, she could already anticipate some frustration… They _all_ tended to struggle with staying in their designated positions. But as far as simply getting the ball over the net went, it certainly didn't hurt that she was on the taller side.

Perhaps it was this acknowledgement that drew her eyes to the smallest member of their class. Yuna had taken her place on the other side of the court, her stance wide and her eyes overdramatically serious. The volleyball was balanced on one hand out in front of her. Her other hand was balled into a fist. Ino could see what was going to happen long before it did. Her stance was too stiff.

Yuna wound herself up a few times before finally going for it. Her hand connected, and there was force but no direction or height. The volleyball flew forward… and was repelled back in her direction by the net. Yuna ducked just in time so that it only bounced off the top of her head rather than smacked her in the face.

There was a moment of stillness in her little sector of the court. Both of the girls on either side of her had frozen, hands outstretched in a desire to help but too late to stop the collision. Finally, Yuna straightened back up, and all three burst into laughter in unison.

Ino felt her own lips turning up in response… until she remembered that it wasn't her moment to enjoy anymore. She wasn't sure how she felt about Yuna anymore. _She _was the one who had pulled down that curtain of betrayal between them. Yuna had been a bubbly gossip—nearly harmless. But it hadn't seemed that way once the rumors revolved around Ino herself. All the same, removed from her outraged younger self, she wasn't so sure anymore which grudges were still worth holding onto.

She thought of Koharu, willingly joining the smaller girl at her locker in the morning. Sakura, obliging that smile back. It had always been so hard to stay mad at Yuna…

Too often, Ino felt at war with herself. She wanted her mom to revert to her old, tough love self… She wasn't sure she could handle the added pressure this would invite. She wanted to be open and honest with her classmates, new and old… But she wasn't the only one possibly holding onto grudges, and she was afraid of the hate that might—rightfully—come her way if she did. She wanted her old confidence back… but it was her _own_ voice in the back of her mind constantly tearing herself down.

Her story was muddled. Ino felt the protagonist and the antagonist, with the crowd of side characters cutting in at seemingly random points with their own stories. She wasn't sure what the end goal was or what she was supposed to be learning.

Right now, all she could really hope for was that she didn't fall into that dark abyss waiting beneath her own cracks.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**At least we're getting through more than one class at a time now. That's something, right? …Right? **


	10. Communication

**I didn't think I'd have this chapter up yet. You can thank my laptop for taking **_**five hours**_** to update. I started it, figuring, You know what? I'll just work the next chapter of Jagged Lines, when it looked like it was going to take a while… By the time it was finally done, I was just in too much of a rhythm to stop.**

**Thank you so much, **LeahMfkn'Clearwater**, for reviewing the last two chapters! I'm really enjoying writing the Ino-Shika-Cho scenes, so I'm glad you're enjoying them!**

**Chapter Ten: Communication**

The rest of the gym period passed smoothly. Ino pulled herself out of the funk brought on by the distance between herself and her former friend. And the particular push and pull of _that_ struggle was long familiar by now. She fell back into her previous rhythm, sending one ball over the net after another.

They'd all settled into their own rhythms, Coach Mitarashi moving around to give personal instruction to the ones who were struggling. This rhythm was interrupted by the outside door banging open and the boys streaming—_loudly_—back into the gym.

The girls stopped in almost perfect unison—rather self-consciously, Ino thought. A few years ago, she would have been one of the ones subtly primping as soon as the boys came into view—too cool to be seen participating in school sports. Now, she couldn't have felt more removed from this scene if she was literally standing out in the hallway, looking in. But she was not the lone dissenter. One last volleyball soared cleanly over the net before Temari sighed and turned to head back down to the locker room.

Ino moved to follow her lead, the other girls slowly on her heels. And the interest clearly didn't flow both ways. It was like the boys were in their own little bubble. There was a lot of laughter and playful shoving… Every hint possible that _their_ first day of real class had been a lot more exciting. She sought out Shikamaru in this mess and found him with the most unlikely pair yet.

Shikamaru had a weary, annoyed look on his face. But this on its own was not so strange. Ino had seen a lot of things bring that expression to his face. It was the boy walking beside him that almost made Ino stop entirely. Sai had one hand propping his other arm up in front of him at the elbow. She'd had a hard time reading his expressions so far and wasn't quite sure if it was annoyance she was seeing in that frown… But it wasn't hard to see what he was frowning down at. A thin line of blood was easy to spot against his pale skin. And finally, there was Naruto on his other side, sheepishly running one hand through his hair. She guessed he was apologizing for something…

Her curiosity flared up. She almost wanted to change course and head over to join them, get the story at once. But then she was through the doorway and starting down the stairs, the boys out of sight. She would just have to question Shikamaru later.

Or… she supposed she could ask Sai. It was a thought that stopped her for a moment. Her world had shrunk so drastically, so quickly. And then it had expanded again, ever so slightly, to make room for Shikamaru and Choji. It was hard to imagine that circle expanding any further… having someone else to talk to.

It was a thought that remained in the back of her mind all throughout the following history lesson. Well, okay. Maybe it wasn't as far back as it _could_ be. (She could only take the constant throat-clearing for so long.)

And besides, history was such a complicated subject… It was hard to really be invested when she knew their textbooks had been written from primarily one perspective. The exact reason for an alliance breaking down was probably reported differently in every country involved—and who knew how it looked from the _outside_? Perspective was such a tricky thing.

**…**

The Konoha school system's playground had an impressive array of bright, colorful equipment but was perhaps most distinguishable by its wide grassy field, outlined by a chain-link fence. The fence was low enough for the average elementary school student to easily climb over, a boundary enforced more by the fear of punishment than the actual fence itself. And the few wild souls who dared to try an escape were caught immediately. The playground backed up to the high school's soccer field, not a single thing to hide behind.

Usually, the field was overtaken by a revolving group of little boys, chasing each other through bouts of tag or loosely organized flash games of kickball. But today, they'd been chased off by the squad of girls currently giggling on the ground. Koharu was the only one who'd remained upright, resting on her knees and grinning down at her crazy friends. The other four were sprawled out together on their backs, faces tilted up to the sky, unconcerned by the time they'd have to spend brushing the dirt from their hair when they got back up.

And they did sit up after another few moments, Ino wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, Sakura and Yuna still slumped against each other for support. Ami jumped up and ran over to the fence, hoisting herself up to sit on top of it with ease. She looked out over them, like a queen surveying her subjects.

"This is great!" she crowed. "The boys give up so easily… We should hang out down here more often."

None of her friends really responded to this, finally composing themselves. Only Koharu spoke up. "You should get down from there before the teachers see you."

But she didn't—not until Ino, their real queen, got to her feet. They all moved in a little closer, positioned around her like her personal guard. Once she had their full attention, Ino grinned mischievously. "But while there's no one here… I have an idea for something else we could do…"

Recess was divided up into the same little cliques one might see during lunch or class. The chaos remained surprisingly separate, one group never paying too much attention to the others. When the girls vacated the playing field, another group moved in to take their place. The teachers had their familiar stations as well and were usually content to let them be until some commotion popped up that _couldn't_ be ignored.

So Ino made sure her friends remained quiet as she led them over to the side of the school building. At the point where the fence met the brick wall of the school, there was a small door. It was easily unlatched, and the slight creaking didn't draw anyone's eyes their way.

Ino quickly ushered them through, sliding along the shadowy side of the building, crouched low to remain out of sight of the windows. Koharu looked vaguely disapproving but held her tongue, following the other girl through. Yuna and Sakura were still hunched together, their giggles nervous, Yuna's head snapping back and forth in search of danger. Ami was last, ever the second-in-command, keeping watch to make sure they weren't caught.

The group slunk down the thin little dirt path, pausing at the edge of the building. Before them lay the school's sunny front yard. Ino could feel her friends' nerves reaching a high point behind her. She gave a quick glance in every direction before bolting across the lawn towards the shade of a big tree.

She heard someone—Yuna, she'd bet—let out a small squeak as the line dashed after her in a panicked, disjointed manner. They came to a stop, each pressed up against the trunk of the tree, hoping they were concealed by the tree's wide branches and blooms.

Her newest friend looked up in surprise when something drifted down beside her, eyes widening. "Oh! This is…"

Ino's grin widened. "That's right… Don't tell me you never noticed we have Sakura trees!" She leaped up onto one of the lower branches, coming back down with a handful of cherry blossoms. She was just passing the flowers around, helping her friends tuck them into their hair… when they heard the whistle signaling the end of recess, sending them all sprinting back through the gate.

They arrived just in time, out of breath but present. And, though their cherry blossoms remained proudly displayed for the rest of the day, no one asked any questions.

There was, however, a chain locking the fence door shut when they returned the next day.

**…**

Ino was still feeling nostalgic when she and Shikamaru met back up again for lunch. But Choji was the first to bring up their gym lessons. "Man, why couldn't we have done tennis or something first?"

"You still run around a lot in tennis," Ino pointed out.

But Shikamaru shrugged, knowing exactly what his friend meant. "Yeah, but if you miss the ball in tennis, maybe you just have shitty depth perception. If you stand still for more than a second in soccer, Coach Gai is there, breathing down your neck…"

She laughed a little, though she suspected Coach Mitarashi had yet to show her full enthusiasm… "What happened today anyway? It looked like Naruto was apologizing to Sai for something?"

Shikamaru scoffed. "That idiot…"

Choji grinned, feeling a story. "Which one?"

"_Both_. The whistle blew for us to go back in, but Naruto just had to go for one more goal… Sai was defending for the other team, and they both went down. Idiot," he repeated. "He should've just gotten out of the way. It's not like the goal would have counted for anything."

Ino stored that information away for later. She wondered why he _had_ stood his ground. Her first impression of Sai had left her filled with questions. She realized she had a hard time picturing the boy being passionate about anything but his art.

She revived her mind a little for their first algebra lesson, got through the outline of the food pyramid for the billionth time in health, and was actually completely tuned in as Miss Yuhi introduced the different branches of psychology in the world today. She was still reflecting on those notes as she wandered back into the art room at the end of the day.

Sai was already there, easel set up in front of him in almost the exact same spot he'd been in yesterday. She wouldn't have expected any different. He barely looked up when she joined him again, pulling over her own stool. She let him work in silence for a while, noting that he was working on something new. She couldn't tell what this one was meant to be… But then, Sai wasn't even armed with his paintbrush yet. He was sketching some broad lines with one of those flat carpenter's pencils.

"How's your arm?" she asked at last, her voice overpowering the scratching of the pencil.

"It's fine." The bandage he'd been patched up with was easily seen on his upraised dominant arm. "Just a scratch."

"Shikamaru told me what happened… Why didn't you get out of the way? The game was over."

Sai paused his sketching and turned those dark, owlish eyes on her. "He told me I needed to compete more seriously. After the last ball got past me."

He was focused in on his drawing again before she even had a chance to process this. "I guess you just didn't strike me as the competitive type. It looked like you two were arguing when you came back in."

"Did it?" His brow furrowed a bit. "Ino… Is it strange for someone to laugh while they're apologizing?"

She blinked, considering. "Um… I guess it kinda depends on the situation? Like… when it's something that's not really important… a simple argument between friends… then you usually just laugh and move on."

"I see…" But she wasn't sure he did. Sai still seemed troubled by something.

"Maybe that's not the best example," she backtracked self-consciously. Then something clicked belatedly. "Are we still talking about Naruto?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well… I guess I don't know him as well as I _could_… We're not close or anything. But I wouldn't be surprised if _he_ laughed every time he apologizes. The Naruto I knew was basically the resident class clown. I'm not sure he takes _anything_ seriously."

Sai's answer was just a hum at first. Then, "Yes, that's what Shikamaru said too."

"…Why do you ask?" She felt like she was just missing one piece to a puzzle—the piece that would bring light to what exactly she was looking at. She got this feeling while trying to comprehend Shikamaru's shogi strategies too…

"I wanted to know if he did it on purpose."

"…Knocked you down?"

"Yes."

Something in her stomach twisted uncomfortably. She didn't like that this was the first place Sai's mind jumped to. The same way it hurt when she'd immediately presumed Asuma being laid-back meant he was likely negligent too. "Sai… You didn't go to junior high in Konoha, did you?"

"No. Did you?"

"Just… Just the first two years."

**…**

Their teacher didn't need to call for silence when she walked back into the room. The principal had called her out into the hallway with a very serious look on his face. And her expression was equally serious when she returned. She took up a position at the front of the class and took a deep breath to gather her thoughts.

"Class… I know it wasn't that long ago that we had a little talk about bullying… The principal was here to inform me that… after the incident this weekend… Sakura's parents feel that she is no longer safe at this school. She will be completing the rest of this week's work from home while she's enrolled in another district."

She paused, and they could all see anger behind her features now, just barely restrained. "I have to say… that in the 20 years I've been teaching, I've _never_ had a student who had to leave because they felt their _safety_ was in question. Those of you who are involved know who you are. In the coming week, the principal will be meeting with each of you—and your parents—personally."

She's slowly turned away—back to the board where she wrote out the morning announcements each day—and it spoke to the tension in the atmosphere that whispering didn't immediately start up.

This was where Ino had started to feel the first stirrings of nervousness. A few of their classmates were glancing in her direction—notably none of her friends. The other girls were refusing her attempts at eye contact, terribly indicative of things to come.

The interrogations—trapped between her parents while the principal stared her down across the desk—felt a little like trying to climb up a steep slide. She wasn't in a position to deny anything, but they didn't know any of the specifics… not at first. Once the consequences were bearing down on them, her friends were quick to spill their guts and shift the blame.

Later, as she struggled to adjust to Rosewood… finding her locker broken open and her things scattered throughout the school… hiding in the stairwell so she didn't have to fight to find a table that would take her during lunch… Ino would be plagued with a sense of dread. She knew all too well how bad it _could_ get. And it would.

**…**

"I'm sorry." Sai's sudden apology dragged her back to the present. "Did I say something wrong?"

She realized that his movements had stilled entirely, that ever-neutral expression twisted into something a little more obviously troubled. His face was still pointed stiffly ahead, but it _felt_ as if his eyes were on her. She'd never felt so scrutinized by someone who wasn't even looking at her.

"What? Oh no… It's not you."

He seemed to let this sink in for a moment before nodding. Ino expected this to be the end of it, but he didn't resume his drawing, instead adding, "I don't read people very well. People get… upset when I talk. And I usually realize it too late."

She wasn't sure how to respond to this at first. Here she'd been thinking _he_ was hard to read. It sent her thoughts racing off in another direction. She wondered, was he hinting at some sort of developmental delay? But, as far as she had seen, Sai was placed in regular classes, so… It felt rude, almost, to linger on this train of thought. She awkwardly waved his concerns away.

"It's not you," she repeated. "Last year was… hard for me. I just got stuck in some old memories. Happens to be a lot, actually."

Her words had a wry, pessimistic edge to them by the end, and that gave Sai pause again. But his caution appeared to be fading, and that made her smile, ever so slightly. It gave her the courage to blurt out, "Hey, at least you're not hurting people on _purpose_."

His eyes slid her way briefly again. She saw he'd begun to twirl his pencil through his fingers rather than try to focus in on the easel before him again. "Is there a difference, do you think? The people I offend react just as badly as they do when someone is rude to them on purpose."

"They probably don't _realize_ you're not doing it on purpose…"

They lapsed into silence for a second. "…Why say it then?"

Ino felt her cheeks heat up. "I guess… I wasn't really talking about you. I was talking about myself."

"Who are you being rude to? On purpose?"

"I… No one anymore." She'd finally dropped her eyes from where they'd been trained on his face this whole time.

When she looked back up, a frown was tugging at Sai's mouth. "I'm sorry. I thought we were getting along. Is it my fault?"

"No," she assured softly. "I think maybe I just haven't learned how to talk to you yet. I was hoping we could be friends."

She kind of wanted to cringe, saying the words out loud. She was primed for rejection. This boy probably thought she sounded desperate or crazy or both. She'd thoughtlessly claimed his space like it was her own just a day ago with all her dreary baggage… _She_ wouldn't want someone like herself to latch onto her. But Sai's mouth twitched upwards, and it hit her that this was the first time she'd seen him smile. "I hope so too."

Ino really wished she could put an end to this reflex of hers that demanded self-sabotage the second she started feeling good about herself. But she had to come clean to Sai. The guilt would eat her alive if she didn't.

"You may change your mind after you've known me for more than two days," she warned. "I don't have the best history with friends."

"Well, I don't have a history at all. At least you've succeeded in _making_ them." Sai sounded entirely too unconcerned.

He didn't understand that not so long ago, _she_ would have been the type to shove him down in a friendly game and then laugh it off—for the pettiest slights—never losing any sleep over it. "I mean it… Before last year… I wasn't very nice."

All her warnings were still not enough to repel Sai. He shrugged. "I've been told I'm not very nice either. But I like spending time with you. You answer all my questions. You make it feel like… Even if I don't understand you now… I could. Maybe one day we can talk about what happened last year."

Finally, she allowed herself to smile back. "Yeah… Maybe."

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**The way I see this going, this story could probably be renamed 'Therapy Sessions with Sai.' Shikamaru and Choji already basically know everything, so her conversations with Sai are where the big flashbacks are really going to come forth.**


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